


PMD: Explorers of Light and Shadow

by SharpEyLogic



Category: Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time & Explorers of Darkness & Explorers of Sky
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-12
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2019-10-26 16:44:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 42,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17749658
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SharpEyLogic/pseuds/SharpEyLogic
Summary: Fate is turning it's wheel when a former human appears on the beach of Treasure Town as a Pokemon, with no memory aside from their name. Apocalypse is looming on the horizon and the only saviors are an amnesiac Pokemon and a timid, but determined explorer. Time and space is slowly being swallowed by darkness, darkness with a shade that isn't as evil as people think. A novelization of PMD: Explorers of Sky with several OC characters





	1. Enigma on the Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An amnesiac former human turned into a Pokemon. A timid wannabe explorer. Two seemingly unrelated paths cross on one fateful day and a journey that'll change the world forever begins...

“Whoa! Hang on!” Lightning boomed around us, making building size waves tower over our ship. 

“Brace yourself!” A voice cried next to me and the wave crashed down onto us, burying my body under gallons of saltwater. When the wave receded, I was left spluttering and choking on the deck. A blast of wind blew me off my feet and I crashed into the ship’s railing before tumbling down to the merciless sea below. At the last second, I grabbed the edge of the boat’s barrier and held on for dear life.

“Hang on! I’m going to help you!” The voice I heard earlier cried out frantically, but my hand was beginning to slip. My strength was fading away.

“I… I can’t hang on!” I yelled.

“Just a little longer! Don’t giv-” The voice abruptly stopped as my hand finally gave out and I tumbled down the ship and into the dark waves. The moment I hit the water, my vision slipped away.

“Ughhh…” I blinked my eyes open for what seemed like years later. A gentle sea and waves splashed nearby me. The sand was hot in my palms “W-where am I?” 

Immediately, my eyes began to droop and my vision went dark “Losing... consciousness…”

On a hillside overlooking the town, a lone Eevee paced anxiously in front of a large tent designed after the Pokemon Wigglytuff.

“Okay, I think I can do this” The Eevee took a deep breath and stepped onto the grate covering a hole in the earth.

“Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!” A voice called from below.

“Whose footprint? Whose footprint?” Another voice called.

“Eek!” The Eevee leaped off the grate in fear and stood far from it, trembling.

“I… I can’t do it. I’m such a coward…” She murmured then reached into her bag slung over her body. She pulled out a rock and placed it onto the ground next to the grate. There was a pattern on the stone that glowed with white light.

“I swore that I would unravel the mystery of my Relic Fragment, but…” The Eevee sighed, pitiful about herself and slipped the rock back into her bag “I can’t do it. I’m too much of a chicken to even stand on a grate…”

Upset about her timidness, the Eevee made her way off the hillside and walked towards the beach. However, two Pokemon, who were hiding behind the tent, were watching her. A Koffing and a Zubat.

“Heh-heh-heh. Did you see that girl there Koffing?” The Zubat snickered.

“Whoa-ho-ho. I sure did Zubat. Did you see that rock she was holding?” The Koffing replied.

“Looks high value to me. Should we go take it?”

“We do”

The Eevee headed down to the beach, where Krabby were blowing bubbles into the sunset. The view was breathtaking. The orange sunset lighting the whole sea ablaze, the swirl of bubbles flying high in the sky and the calm waves making light splashes against the cliffs of Beach Cave. The Eevee smiled. She always came here if she was feeling sorry for herself. The view always calmed her down. 

“Ah, what an amazing sight…” She gazed towards the sun setting below the horizon, starry-eyed. She glanced to her left and noticed something different about the beach. There was someone lying in the sand! The Eevee quickly rushed towards the unconscious Pokemon in the sand and rapidly shook his shoulders.

“Hey! Are you awake? Can you hear me?”

I groaned and groggily opened my eyes to a beautiful Eevee staring down at me, her face frantic with worry. She lit up with relief when she saw me open my eyes.

“Oh thank goodness you’re awake! Are you okay?” The Eevee asked, her voice calm and soothing.

“Y-yeah, I’m fine. But… how are you able to speak to me? I don’t remember Pokemon learning to speak...” I said, shaking the sand off my head. The Eevee looked at me, dumbfounded.

“Err.. what are you talking about? All Pokemon can speak to each other” She said, staring at me with a perplexed look.

“But I’m a human! How can I suddenly hear Pokemon speak now? Am I in some fever dream?” I pinched my arm to make sure I wasn’t hallucinating. To my horror, I saw that my arm was blue and my hand was like a dog’s paw “What the-”

“A human?! Uhh... you look like a completely normal Riolu to me” The Eevee said, her voice strained with unease.

“A Riolu?” My eyes widened as I gazed over my body, my blue paws having rounded bumps on the forearms. Black floppy ears dangled beside me and my tail swished to the hot summer wind. The Eevee wasn’t kidding. I really was a Riolu! Before I could scream in panic, a Koffing and a Zubat came behind the Eevee and knocked her down, dropping a jagged rock in the process.

“Hey! What was that for?!” The Eevee got up and glared daggers at the two Pokemon. 

“Whoops, sorry! Is this yours?” The Koffing approached the strange rock. 

“Yes, give it back please” The Eevee said, but the Zubat approached the rock too. He picked it up and threw it into his bag. The Eevee jumped in shock.

“Hey! What are you doing?!”

“Heh-heh-heh! Too chicken to get it back?” The Zubat taunted while the Koffing laughed.

“I…” The Eevee stood paralyzed in fear.

“Whoa-ho-ho. She’s more of a coward than we thought! Looks like the money’s going to come rolling to us now!” The Koffing cackled.

“Let’s get out of here” The Zubat said and the duo went towards the nearby Beach Cave “See you later, chicken”

After they left, the Eevee shook with rage.

“Those jerks! I need to get my Relic Fragment back!” The Eevee growled with determined malice “But… I’m too weak and cowardly to do it on my own. Can you please help me?”

“Well, I just got turned into a Pokemon and I have no idea what to do now, so it wouldn’t be a bad idea to help this girl out”, I thought.

“I’ll help you, but you owe me an explanation after this is done, alright?” I said and the Eevee jumped for joy.

“Thank you! Oh, I haven’t even asked for your name yet. Mine is Priscilla”

“I’m Silvin. Now then, shall we go?”

“Yes, of course. Let’s hurry before those two get away!”

Once we were inside, the walls and terrain shifted like a mirage, creating a set of rooms and hallways.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you this” Priscilla caught my look of surprise and smiled “This world has tons of “mystery dungeons” scattered over the land and every time you enter, the layout will shift, making each exploration different”

“That’s pretty cool” I admitted “So do we just scourge around here until we find a staircase?”

“Putting it bluntly, yes. Every floor in the dungeon has one staircase that leads to the next floor. Rooms found within the floor may contain Pokemon, items or those tiles on the floor, which are called “Wonder Tiles” Priscilla explained.

“Alright, I got it. You can explain all this to me later. We have to catch those two thieves” I said, making my way towards the hallway to my left.

“Yes, you’re right. Let’s get moving” Priscilla nodded and followed me through the left hallway. As we were walking, Priscilla continued explaining information to me.

“Pokemon that inhabit this place will attack us because they think we’re intruding on their territory, so be careful” the Eevee advised “Every Pokemon has a set of “moves” which are special attacks that have increased power, typing, accuracy or even an effect”

Suddenly, a blue and green slug came towards us and shot a blast of Water Gun towards me. The force of the blast smacked me in the face and I stumbled into Priscilla, but she managed to stop me from toppling over. 

“That Shellos just used Water Gun at us. Maybe you got something to retaliate?”

On instinct, white aura surrounded my body and I lunged at the speed of light towards the Shellos, hitting it in the head with my fist. I followed up with a swift bite to the skull while the slug with stunned, taking it down. Priscilla stood behind me, impressed.

“Wow, you already got the hang of it. You’re a good fighter” The Eevee grinned brightly “And a quick learner too”

“You don’t need to dump praise on me” I said, although a silly smile managed to stick on my face “We need to get that rock back, right? Let’s find the stairs”

We continued moving throughout the dungeon, picking up items along the way and battling other Pokemon. We found a Blast Seed on the BF2 (which stood for Bottom Floor 2) and Priscilla described it as a seed filled with explosive substance. When it collides with an object or surface, it’ll explode in a small blast range. 

“A little strange this small seed holds the power of a stick of dynamite” I said, careful not the drop the explosive seed “It makes me scared to even hold it”

“Only with enough impact will the seed detonate. I wouldn’t worry if I were you” Priscilla assured me.

Later on BF3, Priscilla found an Oran Berry on the ground, which was then explained as the main food source of this world, alongside Apples. I was seriously wondering how this berry was still fresh after being in a damp cave for who knows how long, but the berry looked fine. Not a scrap of dirt or grime to be found. 

“Mystery dungeons are weird. Seemingly, they preserve organic items like apples and berries, which is why so many Pokemon live there” The Eevee explained “Probably something to do with the magical nature of dungeons”

“If you say so” I shrugged. Better to just accept than question it at this point. Finally, we found the stairs and they lead down to a clearing with a gushing waterfall. Two figures were gazing at the torrent: A Koffing and a Zubat. The same ones who robbed Priscilla.

“Hey!” Priscilla yelled angrily at the two and they faced us, surprised.

“Whoa-ho-ho! I’m shocked to see you here. Thought you were too chicken to come fight us” The Koffing cackled.

“Give back my Relic Fragment! It’s valuable!” Priscilla’s paws dug into the sand beneath us hard.

“Heh-heh-heh. Valuable huh?” The Zubat grinned and then laughed wildly “All the more reason not to give it back!”

“What?!” Priscilla got even more angry. If looks could kill, the waterfall would be turned into lava and Koffing and Zubat would be sent straight into it. 

“If you want it back, come and get it!” Koffing taunted and prepared to fight.

“Oh, I’ll get it alright. Through sheer force! Let’s do this Silvin!” Priscilla rushed towards Koffing and hit him hard with a Tackle. Koffing countered with a puff of poisonous Smog, blinding Priscilla with toxic smoke. Koffin knocked her to the ground with a hard Tackle. I smacked Zubat out of the way with Quick Attack and threw by Blast Seed at Koffing to keep him away from Priscilla. The Blast Seed collided with Koffind and exploded, leaving him staggering around aimlessly. Priscilla managed to bat away the Smog and lunged into the air with Quick Attack, striking Koffing to the ground with Tackle. Koffing crashed and tumbled to the ground.

“Over here!” Suddenly, Zubat came behind me and slashed me with Wing Attack. I clutched my arms to my chest and braced myself with Endure while Zubat collided another Wing Attack against me.

“Silvin, take this!” Priscilla knocked Zubat away with Quick Attack and handed me the Oran Berry. While Priscilla was fighting Zubat, I bit into the Oran Berry. I was rather sweet, with a hint of blueberry taste in it. It immediately healed me up and I was back in the fight. Priscilla pushed Zubat back with Tackle and I followed up with a Bite to his wing, sending the bat flying to the ground, his bag dropping in the process.

“Urrg…” Koffing and Zubat groaned and got up, their movement sluggish and slow. Not way they were able to continue fighting us. Priscilla retrieved her Relic Fragment from Zubat’s bag and held it close, wary of the two thieves.

“Whoa-ho-ho. You’re pretty tough, aren’t you?” Koffing said, feigning impression. 

“Heh-heh-heh. This will be the last time!” Zubat promised and snatched up his bag, flying out of Beach Cave alongside his partner. With them gone, we took our leave too and made it out to the beach.

“Phew, thank you so much for helping get my Relic Fragment back!” Priscilla smiled affectionately at me “I really wouldn’t have been able to do it without you”

“Well, it’s the least I can do” I laughed “Now, I believe you owe me an explanation of how this place works”

“Yes, I’ll tell you how everything goes here” Priscilla nodded “But I have to ask you one more thing”

“Hm? What is it?”

“Do you… want to make an exploration team with me?” Priscilla immediately dropped her head “It’s okay if you don’t want to, but I feel like me and you made a good team back there. Maybe we discover so much more if we’re together!”

“Well, how can I say no? I’ll be lost if I didn’t have someone to lean on” I said, making Priscilla grin with joy.

“Thank you! We can make our team at Wigglytuff’s Guild atop the hill over there” Priscilla pointed to a pink coloured tent on top a cliffside.

“Alright, let’s go then. Thought of a name?”

“What about… Team Skylar?”

“Team Skylar… has a good ring to it. I like it”


	2. The First Exploration

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the Relic Fragment recovered, Silvin and Priscilla set off towards Wigglytuff's Guild in hopes of creating an exploration team for themselves. Their first steps towards their destinies begins now...

Priscilla shivered as we hiked up the hill towards Wigglytuff’s Guild.

“Something wrong?” I asked, noticing the Eevee fidgeting and twitching around.

“S-sorry. Just a little nervous, that’s all” Priscilla said, giving me a faint smile of approval, then took a deep breath as we approached the entrance.

“Before we’re allowed in, we have to step on this grate” Priscilla pointed to a wooden grate in front of the tent entrance “Probably for security reasons”

“Alright, you want to go first?” I offered.

“S-sure” Priscilla walked onto the grate and a voice called from below.

“Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!”

Priscilla let out a small yelp, but took a deep breath and calmed down just as another voice called out.

“Whose footprint? Whose footprint?”

“The footprint is… Eevee! The footprint is Eevee” The first voice replied.

“Hey you!” The second voice boomed, startling Priscilla “There’s someone else with you, right? Get onto the grate!” 

“I think they’re talking about you Silvin” Priscilla got off the grate and I stood over it.

“Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!”

“Whose footprint? Whose footprint?”

“The footprint belongs to…” Suddenly the first voice trailed off “The footprint belongs to… uhh…”

“What’s the matter over there?! Whose footprint is it?” The second voice yelled.

“Uhh umm…” The first voice continued to stutter, then yelled back “The footprint is Riolu?!”

“Are you sure?!”

“Uhh… yes!”

“Ugh, FINE. I’ll go check myself!”

Suddenly, the second voice was right below me.

“Sorry to keep you WAITING!” The second voice boomed “It’s true that we don’t get many Riolu in these parts but…”

“But…?” Priscilla trailed off.

“You don’t seem like bad Pokemon. Very well! You can enter!” The iron gate blocking the tent entrance lifted with a loud creak. We entered the building and found a ladder leading down to the bottom floor. When we came down, we were greeted by tons of Pokemon going around, either chatting with each other or looking up jobs on the boards next to us.

“Wow! Are all these Pokemon part of exploration teams?” Priscilla looked around the room, amazed. Before we could decide what to do, a Chatot climbed up a ladder from the floor below us and approached us.

“Are you the two who just walked in?” The Chatot asked in a steady tone, like a tactician giving orders to his troops “I am Chatot, the head of intelligence in Wigglytuff’s Guild. What are you here for?”

“We’re here to-” Priscilla began, but the Chatot cut her off, flapping his wing close to her face.

“Shoo! We don’t have time for surveys and salespeople. Go on! Get out!” the Chatot squawked, irritated.

“No, no! We want to apply as an exploration team!” Priscilla cried, causing the Chatot to rear back in shock.

“You want to apply as apprentices?!” Chatot then turned his back to us and murmured to himself “It’s rare to see kids like this wanting to make an exploration team, especially given how hard our training is!”

Priscilla stared at Chatot with confusion “Huh? Is the guild training really that severe?”

Chatot suddenly turned back to up and fluttered “Hm? Oh no no no! It’s not true in the slightest! Our training program for exploration teams is as easily as it can be!”

“Oh… now you’re making it sound like ANYBODY can do it…” I muttered under my breath.

“You should've told me upfront that you wanted to be an exploration team! Hee hee!” Chatot grinned, his tail swishing passively.

Priscilla looked at me with a face of confusion “His attitude suddenly changed, didn’t it…”

“Anyways, let’s get your team signed up!” Chatot continued his unusually happy demeanor as he led us down to the basement of the guild. Turning left, Chatot stopped at a set of wooden double doors marked with a red symbol. 

“Wow, we’re two floors under, but we can still see outside!” Priscilla marveled.

“Oh hush now!” Chatot said irritably “The guild is built onto the side of a cliff. It’s only natural that you can see outside”

“I thought you would know that” I said jokingly and Priscilla let out an embarrassed laugh. 

“Anyways, here are Guildmaster Wigglytuff’s Chambers” Chatot said, pointing to the double doors next to us “On no account or any condition, you will NOT be discourteous to the Guildmaster. Understood?”

“Guildmaster! It’s Chatot! I’m coming in!” Chatot called as he pushed the double doors open, leading us into a room lit by torches and filled with banners, treasure chests and other loot. A pink Pokemon had its back turned to us as he stood on the center red carpet.

“Guildmaster! I present to you two Pokemon who wish to join our guild as apprentices” Chatot explained.The Pokemon didn’t respond nor even turn his front on us, so Chatot repeated his message.

“Guildmaster? Umm… Guildmaster…?” Chatot said slowly and suddenly the Pokemon turned around, startling me, Priscilla and Chatot. 

“Hiya!” the Wigglytuff greeted in a voice that belonged to a child “I’m Wigglytuff! And I’m the guild’s guildmaster!”

“Y-yeah, nice to meet you…” Priscilla looked at me with a look of sudden regret. Coming here didn’t seem like a good idea anymore. 

“You want to form an exploration team? Then let’s go for it!” Wigglytuff continued “First, we have to register your exploration team’s name. So what’s your team name?”

“Ah right, our name. It’s Team Skylar” I said.

“Wow, you’re pretty fast!” Wigglytuff grinned “I’ll register your team as Skylar. Registering… registering…”

Priscilla looked at me again, wide eyed by Wigglytuff’s odd behavior. I gave her the same look back.

“All registered!” Wigglytuff confirmed “YOOM-TAH!”

“Eek!” Priscilla let out a short yelp, but covered her mouth in time to not embarrass herself. Wigglytuff was so random and odd. I didn’t think the leader of a exploration guild would be as silly as this.

“Congratulations! From now on, you’re an official exploration team!” Wigglytuff congratulated “I present to you this commemoration”

Wigglytuff took a small yellow box from a treasure chest behind him and presented it to us. I didn’t know what it was, but Priscilla seemed to know.

“A Pokemon Exploration Team Kit?”

“Yep, it’s what every exploration teams needs!” Wigglytuff explained “Quick, open it up!”

We opened the kit and found two small leather bags, two white badges with wings and a pink symbol etched in the center, along with a old-looking map made of parchment. 

“Ooh. Treasure Bags, Explorer Badges and a Wonder Map? Wow, so many great stuff in here!” Priscilla grinned with giddy happiness.

“The Explorer Badge is your team identification! It’ll let everyone know you’re an exploration team!” Wigglytuff said “And the Wonder Map is a wonder of convenience!”

Wigglytuff let the joke hang in the air, but none of us laughed, or even let out a chuckle. We just stared at him until he looked uncomfortable, then continued explaining.

“Finally, the Treasure Bag, the most important item for an explorer! It helps you carry items you find in dungeons” Wigglytuff continued “The successes as an exploration team can lead to bigger and bigger space in your bag, so do your best!”

“Thank you so much! We’ll make sure to not disappoint you!” Priscilla smiled with warm joy. 

“Take a look inside your Treasure Bag. I have a gift for you inside!” Wigglytuff instructed and I pulled the bag open. Inside was a sky blue bowtie emitting a small aura of blue fire along with a plain brown flowing scarf. 

“The bowtie is the Sky Blue Bow while the brown scarf is the Power Band” Wigglytuff said “I’m sure they’ll help you out in your adventures. Consider them my personal gift to you!”

“T-thank you so much! We’ll do our best!” Priscilla thanked the guildmaster.

“You two are still apprenticing, so you gotta do your best… to train!” Chatot chimed in.

“Yes of course! We’ll do everything we can, right Silvin?” My Eevee partner asked me. I nodded in approval and she smiled warmly.

“Now then, let me show you around. Take your gifts with you” Chatot instructed and we left with parting thanks to Wigglytuff. Chatot led us to the far left side of the bottom floor, towards the bedrooms. He escorted us to the one at the end of the hallway.

“This is your room” Chatot presented our room, a patch of hard earth with vines growing on the walls and on the ceiling. A circular window showed the view of the town overhead. In the center were two hay beds, like bird nests. 

“You’ll be living here while you work for us” Chatot explained as we settled down into our beds “Things will start getting busy for you tomorrow, so rise early and start living up to our code! Don’t stay up late. Get to sleep early tonight!”

“Got it” I nodded and Chatot left the room, shutting the door behind him. The sunset outside our window quickly turned into pale night, with the full moon shining through the glass. Priscilla was sleeping peacefully nearby, making light and adorable snoring noises. I stared up the the ceiling, trying to fall asleep. The hay beds we were given weren’t all that comfortable. The hay kept digging into my head. I really wanted a pillow.

“Are you still awake Silvin?” Priscilla murmured in her sleep.

“Yeah… what’s up?” I murmured back.

“My heart’s been racing all day” the Eevee admitted “But I’m glad I finally forced myself to come here”

“Yeah, this place is pretty lively. Being in an exploration team sounds fun too” I replied.

“I honestly thought Wigglytuff would be a bit scary, but he’s actually pretty nice” Priscilla said and I laughed quietly.

“Would anybody be scared of Wigglytuff? Just look at him”

“Heh, I guess you’re right” Priscilla turned and stared at me with a smile “We’ll experience all sorts of new stuff tomorrow. Are you feeling nervous or frightened Silvin?”

“Neither really. I’m actually excited for how tomorrow will go. Our first job as apprentices” I said and Priscilla reached her paw forward to stroke my face.

“I feel the same” Priscilla said and retracted her paw from my head “I’m feeling a little sleepy. Let’s do our best tomorrow, alright?”

As Priscilla lay back down to sleep, I reached my hand and touched the spot Priscilla touched. She was really starting to like me, no doubt about that. Sure, I liked her company, but it felt odd that a Pokemon would take such a big liking to a former human. Plus, I have no idea how I got here, how I turned into a Pokemon and how I ended up unconscious on that beach. Questioning the unknown just made me more sleepy, so I made myself as comfortable as I could and fell asleep.

“HEY! HEY THERE! RISE AND SHINE!”

I jerked myself awake to the overwhelmingly loud voice screaming at me. My head was pounding like crazy and felt like it was going to explode. Yet still, the loud voice continued to blast my eardrums.

“Why are you still ASLEEP?! GET UP!”

“Okay okay, we hear you…” I muttered weakly as I rose from the prickly hay bed.

“My poor ears…” Priscilla moaned next to me.

“Come on! Snap OUT of it!” The voice screeched “I’m Loudred and I’m a fellow apprentice like you two”

“Nice to meet you, but why is your voice so loud…” Priscilla moaned, still woozy from the sudden alarm clock.

“He has the word “loud” in his name. What did you expect?” I grumbled, rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

“If you’re late for our morning briefing, you’ll be SORRY! So get MOVING!” Loudred blared, then turned around to leave “Guildmaster Wigglytuff has a BIG temper and if you make him lose it…”

Loudred let the threat hang in the air, then shivered “Ooh, that’ll be one SCARY scene. So get up and GO! I’m not getting in trouble because you rookies got up so LATE!”

And with that, Loudred left our room, leaving both of us alone. My head was still pounding and I was woozy from the sudden awakening. I really hoped Loudred wasn’t our daily alarm clock.

“Why doesn’t our room have a lock…” Priscilla muttered “My ears are still ringing. What did he say?”

“Uhm, it was something about getting ready for morning briefing. You know, we signed up as apprentices yesterday…” I slowly reminded Priscilla and she snapped, her half-lidded eyes suddenly going as wide as coins.

“Wah! We overslept! We gotta hurry Silvin!” Priscilla urged and we pushed the door open, rushing out of the guild’s bedrooms. We arrived in front of Wigglytuff’s chambers just as the briefing was about to start.

“You’re LATE!” Loudred cried from the back of the crowd.

“Hush! Your voice is ridiculously loud!” Chatot snapped and Loudred quieted down with a low growl. Chatot surveyed the crowd around us and nodded his head.

“Looks like everyone’s present. Very well, let us begin the morning address” Chatot turned to Wigglytuff’s door “Guildmaster! The guild is in full attendance!”

A few seconds passed before Wigglytuff’s door opened and the guildmaster waddled out.

“Thank you Guildmaster. Please address the crew” Chatot instructed. Instead, Wigglytuff made light snoring noises and low grunts.

“Zzz…. Zzzzz…. Snofle… Zzz…”

“Looks like we aren’t the only ones who overslept” I whispered to Priscilla’s ear.

“Guildmaster Wigglytuff never ceases to amaze me” I heard another apprentice whisper.

“Yeah, you got that right” Another apprentice replied.

“Yup, looks like he’s wide awake” A third apprentice said sarcastically.

“Eek! His eyes are wide open, but he’s fast asleep!” a high female voice cried in a low tone.

“Thank you Guildmaster. We all value your… words of wisdom!” Chatot said, as if to pardon Wigglytuff’s behavior “Ok Pokemon, let us take Wigglytuff’s words to heart”

“Uhm… okay” One Pokemon said among other unsure sentences.

“Finally, let’s not forget our morning cheers. All together now!” Chatot gestured his wings like an orchestra conductor.

“A ONE, A TWO… A ONE-TWO-THREE!” Everyone cried out except for me and Priscilla.

“ONE! DON’T SHIRK WORK!”

“TWO! RUN AWAY AND PAY!”

“THREE! SMILES GO FOR MILES!

“Okay Pokemon! Let’s get to work!” Chatot rallied.

“HOORAY!” Everyone cheered and dispersed, leaving me and Priscilla alone with Chatot and the still-sleeping Wigglytuff. 

“Well, I guess we should look around a bit…” Priscilla took one step and Chatot called out.

“Hey, you shouldn’t be wandering around here. You two come with me” Chatot said, then gestured with his wing for us to follow him. Chatot led us back to the floor with the twin boards and showed us the one on the left.

“This is the Job Bulletin Board, where Pokemon from all regions post jobs for explorers to do” Chatot explained “You’re still beginners, so we can start you off with this assignment”. 

Chatot stared at the board, occasionally taking papers off the board to read them, then pinned them back. Finally, he took one and gave it to us. 

“By the way, you’re aware of all the bad Pokemon cropping up lately?” Chatot asked.

“Yup. It’s because the flow of time is being messed up. At least that’s what I heard from the rumors” Priscilla replied.

“The flow of time is getting messed up?” I wondered in my head “Time? As in hours and minutes? Do they mean something has gone wrong with time here? And because of that, more bad Pokemon are popping up?”

“Precisely. Time going out of a whack has caused an outbreak of bad Pokemon. Perhaps that’s why we have so many job offers these days…” Chatot said “In addition, there’s also been a mass outbreak of… mystery dungeons”

“Ah right, mystery dungeons. Like the Beach Cave down by the beach?” I asked.

“That’s only one of many” Priscilla said “Mystery dungeons offer different layouts every time you enter and if you faint in the middle of a dungeon, you can lose half your money and sometimes, half you items in your Treasure Bag. Afterwards, you’re immediately kicked out”

“That doesn’t sound good…” I said and Priscilla laughed.

“But the different layout gives you a different experience every time you go through and there’s always new treasure to discover! They are really fantastic places to explore” The Eevee’s eyes lit up with excitement. 

“Well, you’re quite informed, aren’t you? That makes things much easier to explain” Chatot turned to the job bulletin “Jobs take place in mystery dungeons. The paper I just gave you is a job in Drenched Bluff south of us. Go ahead, read it”

Priscilla read the paper in her hand out loud.

“Hello! My name is Spoink. An outlaw has run off with my most prized possession: my precious pearl. The pearl is life itself… to me! I just can’t seem to settle down if that pearl isn’t in its proper place atop my head. But I heard my pearl’s been spotted! I heard it’s on a rocky bluff, but I heard said bluff to be extremely unsafe. I could never go somewhere so frightening alone! Oh, friendly readers, would you be so kind as to go get my pearl for me? I beg your help, exploration team members! Signed, Spoink”

“Wait a minute…” Priscilla said as she lowered the paper “We’re supposed to go get something someone dropped?! I’d rather go look for treasure or explore unknown places. Something like that!”

“Hush!” Chatot snapped and Priscilla yelped, silencing herself.

“It’s more important that you rookies pay your dues!” Chatot said “Now pay attention! I’m going to repeat the warnings so that they stick! One, you’ll be forced out of a dungeon when…”

Chatot rambled off what Priscilla told me already and when he was done, he said “Well, if you understand, then get going! Drenched Bluff is south of Treasure Town, as I said”

“Alright. Let’s get going Silvin” Priscilla and I left the guild and went towards Drenched Bluff, which was a rocky cave covered in damp rocks and moss. 

“This must be the place” Priscilla said, checking the job paper over again “Spoink stated that the pearl is hidden in the bluff’s B7F level”

I looked at her surprised “You told me back at Beach Cave that it was BF2 like “Bottom Floor 2”. Now it’s Bottom 7 Floor?”

“I guess people just word it differently” Priscilla shrugged “Anyways, Spoink said that the bluff is dangerous, so we should approach this carefully”

“Got it. Let’s do our best” I nodded and we entered the dungeon. Drenched Bluff wasn’t as dangerous as Spoink said. The Pokemon there were somewhat the same as Beach Cave and they were easy to beat because me and Priscilla made up a combo move together while we were walking to the bluff. Basically, I’ll use Bite or Quick Attack on the enemy in front of me and if it doesn’t faint them, Priscilla can follow up with her own Quick Attack, usually fainting the foe. The Treasure Bag we got made easier to hold Oran Berries, Apples, seeds and sometimes, we found bands and scarves lying on the ground, usually soggy and wet. Speaking of bands and scarves, I dug out the Sky Blue Bow from my bag and put it on my collarbone. I gave the Power Band to Priscilla and she draped it over her neck, the brown scarf flowing like a cape. 

“Do you feel any different wearing that?” I asked Priscilla. The Sky Blue Bow really didn’t make a noticeable difference for me. It felt just like a normal bowtie, except this one glowed.

“A bit. I feel physically stronger now” The Eevee replied “That’s the point of it, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I suppose so. It’s just that this bow doesn’t seem to do anything for me. I don’t feel any different”

“Perhaps the boosts are more spread around as opposed to a single trait. Like it boosts your physical strength, speed and defense” Priscilla theorized “Which is why you don’t notice it’s effects at work”

“Well, no shame in keeping it on. Let’s continue moving” 

Descending down a few levels, we found a couple old gold coins (Poke, as Priscilla told me) and a few gray pebbles, which are called Geo Pebbles.

“Geo Pebbles and other throwable items like thorns and sticks can knock a Pokemon out, so use them if you don’t feel like using a move” Priscilla advised. A Chingling floated towards us from a corridor on the right and I decided to test out the pebble in my hand. I threw it with all my might at the yellow bell Pokemon and it hit it square in the forehead. The Chingling was knocked to the ground, but it got up shortly after, looking more angry than hurt. The air around me felt more concentrated as the Chingling used Confusion, but I quickly rushed with Quick Attack and smacked it in the head with my fist, taking it down. Later, we found more seeds as we descended down the bluff. Priscilla told me that the two identical-looking seeds in my hands were a Violent Seed (on my left) and a Sleep Seed (on my right)

“Violent Seeds have a spicy flavor in it that makes your physical and special attacking prowess go through the roof” Priscilla explained “And the Sleep Seed… well I think you already know what it does”

“Yes, the Sleep Seed cures me of burns. Got it” I replied dryly. 

On BF6, I found a brown bottle with a green cap and white sticker lying in the corner of a room.

“Oh, that’s a Max Elixir” Priscilla pointed out “It’s a medical drink that completely restores the PP of your moves”

“PP?” I was hoping Priscilla wasn’t being immature.

“Power Points” Priscilla said and I breathed a sigh of relief “It’s the amount of times you can perform a move. If you run out of PP and try to perform a move, you won’t feel that rush of power and instead just launch a regular attack”

“I see” I pocketed the Max Elixir into my bag just as a Shellos creeped behind me.

“Silvin! Behind you!” Priscilla called and just as the Shellos lunged at me, I punched it away with my fist. I was about to attack with Quick Attack, but my legs felt weak and I couldn’t move at the speed I needed for Quick Attack. The Shellos shot Mud Slap at me and I dodged while Priscilla finished it with her own Quick Attack. 

“So that’s what you meant by running out of PP on a move” I remarked as I dug out my elixir, but Priscilla stopped me.

“I counted the floors and we’re on BF6. The next floor is where Spoink’s pearl is, so I don’t think you need the Max Elixir now” she said and I obeyed, slipping the drink back into my bag. A room later and we found a wet stone staircase. We went down, careful not to slip and found ourselves in a clearing, with shallow water next to us and a spring of water was gushing in the center. A sparkling pink pearl was glittering in the sand in front of the spring. 

“That must be Spoink’s pearl” Priscilla said as she discarded a Blast Seed to pick up the pearl. The moment the seed hit the ground, it exploded in a harsh bang, creating a crater in the ground.

“Yow! Be careful with that next time!” I said as I brushed the shrapnel off my shoulder.

“S-sorry” Priscilla apologized as she picked up the pearl and slipped it into her Treasure Bag. Using an Escape Orb we found in the bluff, we teleported out of the dungeon.

“T-thank you so much!” We gave Spoink's pearl back and he put it on his head, stopping the sporadic bouncing he was doing. 

“The pearl must be propped on my head at all times, you see. I missed it so much!” Spoink said “I just couldn’t settle down without it up there!”

“I’m glad that you’re happy” Priscilla smiled “But why are you covered in scrapes and bruises?”

“Without my pearl, I bounce around sporadically like you saw earlier. I ended up bumping and crashing into a ton of things!” Spoink replied “But thanks to you, that nightmare is over! You have my most sincere thanks! Here is your reward”

Spoink bounced over to me and handed over three medical bottles similar to the Max Elixir along with a hefty 2000 Poke.

“Wow! 2000 Poke!? Are you sure we can keep so much?” Priscilla asked, shocked.

“Of course, of course! That’s nothing compared to my pearl’s value” Spoink said happily before making his way up the ladder somehow “Farewell!”

“We’re rich Silvin! Only one job and we’re rich!” Priscilla grinned, staring at the lump of coins in my hands.

“Well done Team Skylar” Chatot, who was standing nearby the whole time came over to me “Now hand over that gold if you please”

“Excuse me?!” Priscilla’s expression of joy quickly turned to horror.

As Chatot took all the Poke from my hands, he said “Most of the money from jobs goes to the Guildmaster, you see. And the amount of Poke your team gets for this job is…”

Chatot picked 2 coins from the pile Spoink gave us and handed it to me “200 Poke”

Priscilla jumped in shock “What?! That’s 10% of what we earned!”

“Well, that’s the guild’s rule. You have to get accustomed to it” Chatot chided.

Priscilla and I sighed in defeat as we headed down to the bedrooms to rest. Before we can push the door open however, a bell rang from the other side of the room. The guild’s cook, Chimecho came out of the kitchen and announced that dinner was ready. 

“I finished making dinner!” Chimecho called “Come on, dinner’s on!”

“YEAH!” Everyone cheered and rushed to the mess hall. The mess hall was simply a long wooden table with a fountain for water and a large window showing the outside view. The meal was… nothing very special. Just various berries and apples.

“You know, I wish the primary food source was more than just berries and apples” I said, taking a bite out of a Cheri Berry.

“But after going through Drenched Bluff to get Spoink’s pearl, I’m starving!” Priscilla said before chomping down her food like a ravenous beast. The sight was rather disgusting, but I couldn’t blame her. After all, my stomach was growling like a beast too, so it wasn’t long before I was eating as loud as everyone else. After dinner, people began to leave to go sleep while a few stayed back to chat with their friends. 

“Aahhhh! I’m done eating. Good meal!” Loudred commented as he patted his belly.

“I’m stuffed and now I’m getting sleepy…” An apprentice said.

“Yep, I’m off to bed. Good night gang!” Another apprentice said as he hopped off the bench and left the mess hall.

“Good night!”

Soon after, me and Priscilla left to our rooms too. We talked for a while under the moonlight and before long, we were sleeping in our hay beds. I’ve started to get more used to the hay. It didn’t itch my back or my head as much as the first night. I started to relax and close my eyes when Priscilla began talking to me.

“Say Silvin?”

“What is it Priscilla?”

“Today was pretty hectic with everything we went through, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, I guess you can say that”

“But I’m glad our first job turned out so well”

I kept quiet as Priscilla continued “But I’m still really mad about how Wigglytuff’s Guild took most of our money. That’s just the cost of training I guess. We can’t do anything about it”

“I wish they took less of our cash though. I don’t think 200 is even enough to buy anything” I replied and Priscilla sighed sadly.

“Yeah, but what made me really happy today was being thanked by Spoink” The Eevee said “The joy on his face, the relief in his eyes and the happiness in his smile… I felt it right in my bones”

“You’re quite the creative talker aren’t you?” I commented and Priscilla laughed softly.

“Yeah, I’m a bit of a bookworm. Anyways…” The Eevee yawned “I’m getting sleepy now. Sleep tight Silvin…”

I layed in the dark, listening to Priscilla’s light snores. I rested my arms beside me and dozed off as well.


	3. Strange Visions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Silvin and Priscilla's first exploration and mission at the Drenched Bluff, they are introduced to outlaw capture missions before getting tangled up in a nefarious plot between a greedy outlaw and two young children from Treasure Town. This event however, marks a discovery of a new power Silvin possesses, one that may be connected to his amnesia and transformation from human to Pokemon...

"UP AND AT EM. IT'S MORNING!" Loudred shouted behind our door.

"Ugh… good morning… Silvin…" Priscilla's eyes blinked open and she yawned, getting up from her bed. Thankfully, we weren't late for morning briefing this time and recited the cheer with the rest of the guild.

"Alright Pokemon! Let's get to work!" Chatot called.

"HOORAY!" Everyone yelled back and they dispersed, either climbing up the ladder to the first floor or digging under the ground.

"Guess we should check the Notice Board for jobs" Priscilla went towards the ladder, but Chatot called on us.

"Oy, you two!" Chatot beckoned us towards him "Still wandering around lost, hm? Come with me"

Chatot took us to the first floor and went to his left instead of his right.

"Huh?" Priscilla stared at the board in front of us, then looked to the one on the right "Last time we did a job, we took it from that side…"

"Correct" Chatot said "Today, we'll have you do a job on this side"

"What's the difference?" I asked.

"Just look" Chatot turned to the board as me and Priscilla stared at it.

"Oh look Silvin! There's a bunch of posters of various Pokemon" Priscilla exclaimed, pointing at several Pokemon on the posters "Are they famous explorers? Who are they Chatot?"

"The Pokemon posted here… are outlaws" Chatot said with a heavy tone "They are all shady characters. They are wanted for any number of crimes"

"Criminals?!" Priscilla asked, surprised.

"Correct. All of them have bounties on their heads. Whoever brings them in will receive a reward for capturing them" Chatot explained.

"Wait a minute… so you're asking us to go capture these outlaws?" Priscilla quivered with fear "We're just rookies! We can't handle full fledged outlaws!"

"Priscilla, Priscilla, just relax" I said "Take a deep breath…"

"What he said. Calm down and let me explain. All outlaws come in all shades of badness" Chatot said "Outlaws are ranked from E to 10*, with E being the easiest to subdue and 10* being the hardest"

Priscilla breathed a sigh of relief.

"So I'm sure we can find you an easy Pokemon to arrest" Chatot said in his usual cheery way "So look over the Pokemon and decide which one is weak enough for you to bring to justice!"

"You say they are weak but…" Priscilla began "But they are still bad Pokemon right? I… I'm scared of dangerous Pokemon"

"It'll be fine Priscilla. I'll be there with you" I said and Priscilla's gave me a heartwarming smile.

"Silvin's right Priscilla. You'll have companions to fight the outlaw with you" Chatot agreed "Besides, this is all part of your training. I'm sure you'll get used to it soon"

"Alright then, guess we should start picking" I walked up to the board, but Chatot wasn't done talking.

"Preparation is key for a successful mission, so I'll have someone give you a tour of the facilities around here and Treasure Town. They should help you out" Chatot said, then turned to his left "Hey, Bidoof! Bidoof!"

A energetic "Yup yup!" was heard from the floor below and Bidoof entered the room, panting.

"You called Chatot?" Bidoof asked between huffs and puffs.

"Bidoof, these are the new recruits that just joined us, Silvin and Priscilla. Take them and show them around Treasure Town" Chatot instructed.

"Yes sir! By golly, I'll do just that. Yup yup!" Bidoof exclaimed, nodding his head.

"Silvin, Priscilla, this is Bidoof, a fellow apprentice" Chatot introduced "I want you two to pay attention to what Bidoof says and follow his orders. Off you three go!"

As Chatot left, Bidoof swelled with pride "Aw shucks, I'm overjoyed!"

"Huh? Why's that?" Priscilla asked.

"I'm just glad to have members junior to me! I'm almost overcome right now…" Bidoof said, his eyes glittering with tears of joy "I might just blubber with happiness!"

"That's uhh… great?" I said, starting to feel uneasy about everyone except for Priscilla.

"Before you two signed on, I was the most recent rookie" Bidoof sniffled, then straightened up "Well, I'd best show you around. Follow me please"

Bidoof led us back down to the second floor and turned to the cauldron on the left.

"Here we have Croagunk" Bidoof said, introducing the Pokemon in front of the cauldron "But to tell the truth, I have no idea what that Pokemon's up to. He always seems to be fiddling about with that big cauldron. It's all a mystery to me! Yup yup!"

Bidoof took us over to the mess hall entrance "This is the mess hall, where the guild eats dinner"

"What about breakfast and lunch though?" Priscilla asked.

"Well uhm… the guild doesn't have breakfast and lunch… by golly" Bidoof said, his stomach growling "It's hard to get used to it yup, yup, but it's all part of training"

Priscilla sighed "Guess I'll have to buy me and Silvin breakfast then. Hopefully Kecleon's shop has enough apples"

"Anyways, down over there is the guild crew rooms" Bidoof pointed his head to the hallway on the right, then turned it to Wigglytuff's chambers "And that's the guildmaster chambers"

"Now I'll show you outside the guild" Bidoof led us out the guild and turned to the right path of the 4-way intersection, heading into Treasure Town. Many Pokemon bustled around, either preparing to head out to dungeons or shop at the stores. We headed to the center of town and Bidoof told us which store was which.

"Over there is Duskull Bank" Bidoof said, pointing his head to a black building designed after a Duskull. Two fake treasure chests were flowing with fake gold coins. A wall of large iron safes were behind the Duskull at the counter.

"You can store Poke in there before you go into a dungeon. Duskull will keep it safe until you withdraw" Bidoof explained.

"Oh and over there is Electivire's Linking" Priscilla turned to a yellow building on the top left of the town center "You can go to him if you want to link moves together or remember forgotten ones. But he doesn't seem to be here today…"

"Electivire mentioned having some business to take care of outside of Treasure Town" A Vigoroth said, startling me and Priscilla.

"Wah! Who are you?" Priscilla got over her shock and regained her composure.

"Sorry about that, miss. I'm Vigoroth. I'm a resident here in Treasure Town!" The Vigoroth introduced himself.

"What are you doing right now?" I asked.

Vigoroth spread his hands "I'm advertising the shops here! Down there…"

Vigoroth pointed to a shop down south-west that was shaped like a Chansey.

"That shop down there is Chansey Day Care! You might be rewarded Pokemon eggs upon completing a mission, so you can take them there to get raised" Vigoroth explained. Before me and Priscilla could comment, Vigoroth continued.

"Next to the daycare is Marowak Dojo! It recently closed down due to bankruptcy, but Marowak managed to reopen it. You can go in there to train your mind and body to be better prepared for real dungeons!" Vigoroth said.

"Thanks Vigoroth. We'll be going to the marketplace now" Priscilla thanked Vigoroth and we made our way left.

"In the center of the marketplace is Kecleon's Shop" Bidoof said, gesturing to a general store designed after a regular and pink-coloured Kecleon "Kecleon's Shop sells many things essential to an explorer. Apples, berries, gummis, orbs, TMs, they have it all"

"I feel that we'll be shopping there a lot" I commented.

"And over there…" Bidoof cocked his head to the facility beside Kecleon's Shop, a rock shaped like a Kangaskhan head "... that's Kangaskhan Storage. You can store items with her in case you run out of space in the treasure bag. All you need is to pay 1000 Poke a month for her service"

"Oh and down there is Xatu Appraisal" Priscilla pointed to a tent shaped like a Xatu head "Xatu Appraisal can open locked boxes that you can find in dungeons. But it doesn't look like he's here today"

"Xatu mentioned having to fly somewhere to replace his lockpicking tools" Bidoof explained "Where he flew to, I dunno, yup yup"

"Well, looks like that covers everything" I said, scanning the whole town to see if we missed anything.

"Yup yup. That's everything!" Bidoof said "Chatot asked me to pick out an outlaw for you two, so come back to the guild when you're ready!"

"Thanks Bidoof. You were a big help" Priscilla gave Bidoof a bright smile that made him blush.

"By golly, I'm so happy I could help! You… you two get ready soon. See you at the guild!" and Bidoof went back to the guild, tears in his eyes and a smile on his face.

"Well Silvin, I guess we should prepare. Let's visit Kecleon's Shop first" Priscilla led me to Kecleon's Shop. We used the money we earned from yesterday's mission to buy us breakfast along with a few utility seeds and berries.

"Thank you for your business. Come again!" The green Kecleon called. We were about to leave when an Azurill and Marill approached the stand.

"Hello Kecleon brothers" The Marill greeted.

"Good morning!" The Azurill greeted in turn.

"Ah, good morning to you too Azurill and Marill" The green Kecleon smiled "What can I interest you with today?"

"An apple and two Oran Berries please" Marill said.

The green Kecleon pulled out a fresh red apple from the crate behind him and gave it to Marill. The Marill paid with 120 Poke. As the brothers left, the Kecleons turned to us.

"Those two brothers are getting groceries for their sick mother in her place" The purple Kecleon explained "It's heartwarming to see children do such things"

"Oh Mr Kecleon!" Azurill's voice rang as the little blue Pokemon bounced back to the stand "You gave us an extra apple!"

"Ah, consider that a gift from us to your sick mother" The green Kecleon said "Please take it. We can't take back a gift we've given"

"Thank you Mr Kecleon!" Azurill squeaked and went on his way, but he tripped, dropping the extra apple in the process.

"Oof!" Azurill got up and I picked up the apple, preparing to hand it back to Azurill. But when my hand connected with the apple, I had a sudden feeling of nausea. The nausea persisted until my vision went black. Then, a loud voice cried out:

"HELP!"

As my vision returned to normal, I stared at Azurill with confusion. That voice… it sounded exactly like Azurill's. I must of been hallucinating.

"Hm? Sir, my apple please?" Azurill asked. I handed Azurill his apple without a word.

As Azurill bounded off, Priscilla looked at me with a smile.

"He's so cute, isn't he? Doing all this for his mother too!" Priscilla said.

I remained silent. What happened when I touched that apple? Why did I get the sudden nausea? And most of all, why did I hear Azurill yell "HELP!"? Priscilla caught my distraught look and took me away from Kecleon's Shop.

"Silvin, is something the matter?" Priscilla asked.

"It might sound a little weird, but hear me out" I said and then explained to the Eevee what happened when I touched Azurill's apple.

"You… experienced some sort of vision? And in that vision, you heard Azurill call for help? Is that it?" Priscilla stared at me, as if I dropped from space.

"Yeah and it happened just as I touched his apple. It's really weird" I said, fiddling with my fingers.

"Well… maybe you just had a hallucination" Priscilla looked uneasy "Did you have a good sleep last night?"

"No, it was fine" I said "You're right. I was probably just imagining things"

"Anyways, Bidoof's waiting for us at the guild. Wouldn't be good to leave him waiting"

"Yeah, let's hurry back to the guild"

Me and Priscilla went back to the center of Treasure Town where we found Azurill and Marill talking to a Drowzee.

"Yay!" Azurill cheered.

"Thank you so much Mr Drowzee!" Marill grinned.

"Oh no, it's nothing" Drowzee said modestly.

"What's going on here?" Priscilla asked as we approached the three.

"Mr Drowzee here offered to help us find an item we lost" Marill explained "Where did you see it Mr Drowzee?"

"Mt Bristle is where I last seen it. We can go there together if you'd like to find it" Drowzee offered.

"Yes! Thank you so much Mr Drowzee!" Marill and Azurill began to walk off with Drowzee, but the hypnosis Pokemon bumped into me as he was leaving.

"Oops, sorry about that!" Drowzee apologized before trailing behind Marill and Azurill towards the crossroads.

"It's good to see Pokemon helping out each other like this" Priscilla commented "With so many bad Pokemon popping up, things Azurill and Marill's lost item are going to happen more often and less Pokemon like Drowzee are going to help"

Priscilla looked at me oddly since I didn't respond. The nausea was coming back again. When I made contact with Drowzee's arm, the wave of nausea from before came back. My vision went dark and I found myself in a high rocky mountain with the peaks shaped like spears. Or bristles. Drowzee was in front of me and Azurill was looking up to him, fear clouding the little Pokemon's face.

"Now if you don't do as I say, there's going to be some very bad consequences" Drowzee said darkly.

"H- HELP!" Azurill screamed.

Then, the vision shut off. I blinked, momentarily stunned by what I just saw. Drowzee threatening Azurill on some sort of mountain peak. That meant that… Azurill was in danger!

"Hey Silvin. Silvin?" Priscilla snapped me out of my thoughts "You alright? You dazed out for a minute"

I told Priscilla what I just saw and her face shown more suspicion than shock.

"So you're saying that… Drowzee was a liar this whole time and took Azurill to a mountain peak to threaten him?" Priscilla summed up.

"Yes, that's what I saw. If that's true, then we have to save Azurill!" I urged, but Priscilla held me back.

"Silvin, we don't know if your vision was true or not. What's important now is to report back to Bidoof to select an outlaw to capture. I think you're just hallucinating…"

But I was absolutely sure that my vision was true, but Priscilla didn't believe me. I decided to just let it go for now and went back to Wigglytuff's Guild with her to meet up with Bidoof.

"Oh, you're back!" Bidoof called as we descended down the ladder into the guild's second floor.

"Yep, we're ready to go!" Priscilla said and Bidoof turned to the Outlaw Notice Board.

"Alright, let's choose a baddie to take down. Eenie miney mo…" Bidoof looked over the outlaw posters, but something caught Priscilla's eye.

"Wait!" Priscilla cried "Silvin, look at the poster on the top left"

I directed my eyes to where Priscilla was fearfully pointing and I went wide eyed with shock. The outlaw poster Priscilla noticed was a wanted post for Drowzee. The exact Drowzee that was with Azurill and Marill.

"That… that Drowzee… it's the same one who's helping Marill and Azurill!" Prsicilla stuttered "We have to rescue them. Come on Silvin!"

Me and Priscilla ran out of the guild while Bidoof shouted after us.

"By golly! Wait, where are you going?!"

Rushing down the stone steps to the crossroads, we found Marill on the path outside of town.

"Marill! Where's Azurill?!" Priscilla cried.

"I had to go check on my mom, so Azurill went off to Mt Bristle with Drowzee. The road there is too dangerous for me alone. I think Azurill is in danger" Marill said.

"Azurill IS in danger! Drowzee is a wanted Pokemon!" I cried and Marill's expression rapidly turned to horror.

"Drowzee's a wanted Pokemon?! You two rescue Azurill! I'm going to contact the police!" Marill ran back to Treasure Town as fast as he could while we headed towards Mt Bristle in the northeast. As the name implied, Mt Bristle was a mountain range with peaks like porcupine bristles.

"Drowzee and Azurill might be far into the dungeon already" Priscilla said "We have to hurry and rescue Azurill. Let's go Silvin!"

Upon entry to Mt Bristle, the mountain's cliffs and walls shifted like a mirage. The loud cries of Starly's echoed through the range.

"Starly… they are vicious bird Pokemon" Priscilla warned "We should stay clear of them if we could. Fighting them is too risky"

"Let's stay low and in the shadows" I said "We'll find Azurill and Drowzee faster if we ignore wild Pokemon run-ins"

"Right. Let's hurry" My Eevee partner urged.

Mt Bristle was much more harsh than Drenched Bluff by far. The Machop were super effective against Priscilla, so anytime we saw one, I stood in front of my Eevee partner to protect her. The Geodudes easily took my Quick Attacks and Priscilla's Normal type moves. After biting it in the head twice though, I took it down. The Doduos were annoying because everytime me or Priscilla hit them with our Quick Attacks, they immediately retreated by running away at top speed. I wanted to pursue them since they might come back to bother us, but Priscilla held me back.

"Let them go. Once we've shown them we aren't to be messed with, they won't dare attack us again" Priscilla explained "Just ignore them and move on"

The Spinarak were a nuisance because of their Poison Sting, but we packed a few Pecha Berries to cure the poison. Other than that, the Spinarak were no issue.

The Starly however were the scariest of them all. We found a lone Starly on Floor 5 and tried to sneak away, but it spotted us. It rushed with blazing speed towards Priscilla with Quick Attack and left a bloody beak-sized wound in her leg. Priscilla countered with a strong Tackle and knocked the Starly to the ground. The Starly struck back with a Tackle of its own and left Priscilla with heavy injuries. I quickly pulled Priscilla behind me and fetched her an Oran Berry from my bag. I stared down at the Starly and prepared to throw my fist. I lunged forward to attack, but the Starly took flight to dodge it, then dive bombed down with Quick Attack. I formed an X with my arms to block my chest and the Starly slammed right into it, his beak nearly piercing right through my arms.

"Hurrkk… graahhh!" I snarled in anger and slammed my foot into the Starly's chest, forcing it off my arms. As it was spiraling away, I slammed my fist as hard as I could into its head, fainting the Pokemon. I sat down wearily next to a dungeon wall and massaged my wrists in pain. There was a bloody gash the shape of a triangle marked on the backs of my hands.

"Here Silvin… take this" Priscilla dug an Oran Berry from her own bag and fed it to me. I didn't protest when she popped it into my mouth as if I was a toddler. As the strong blueberry taste washed down my throat, warmth spread over my body and the injury on my arms mended themselves. I got onto my feet and we continued onwards. Hiking up the upper floors, we did our best to avoid the Starly's. One of them was hard enough to fight. Two or more will just end up with us being kicked out of the dungeon or worse, death. A Starly duo noticed us sneaking by and I had to expend a Slumber Orb to force them asleep. Finally, we arrived at Mt Bristle Peak through Floor 9.

"Hmm… is it around here? Is this where you last saw it Mr Drowzee?" Azurill asked the hypnosis Pokemon.

"I'm sorry to say that I never saw the item before" Drowzee said, surprising Azurill "I only brought you here for one purpose"

Drowzee pointed to a small hole embedded into a mountain "That hole is rumored to contain a massive amount of treasure. But as you see, I'm too big to wiggle through. That's where you come in"

"Wait a minute… where's my brother?! Why didn't he here with us?!" Azurill cried panically.

"Looks like your brother never caught up with us. Don't worry though. You get that treasure and I'll send you home safe" Drowzee promised.

"I don't want to help a liar like you! I'm leaving!" Azurill dashed away from Drowzee, but Drowzee was faster and easily blocked Azurill's path.

"Don't move. If you don't do as I say, there's going to be very bad consequences" Drowzee threatened.

"H-HELP!" Azurill screamed.

"Drowzee! Stop right there!"

"Hm?" Drowzee turned towards the voice in confusion.

"We're Team Skylar and we've come to arrest you!" Priscilla declared valiantly.

"You're an exploration team? So you came to apprehend…" Drowzee began, but stopped when he noticed Priscilla shaking.

"Are you… trembling?" Drowzee looked like he was about to burst into laughter "Oh ho, I figured it out. You're an exploration team, but you're complete rookies!"

"Urk… we'll… we'll defeat you regardless!" Priscilla tried to put on a brave face, but I remembered Priscilla stating before that she was afraid of strong Pokemon.

"Heh heh, alright then" Drowzee smiled "That's right. I'm a wanted Pokemon with a bounty on my head. But can you two do it? Can you confront this outlaw and bring him to justice?"

"Eergg... " Priscilla stopped trembling and slammed her paw into the ground in anger "Yes! Yes we can! We'll never lose to a crook like you! Drowzee… prepare yourself!"

"Ha ha ha!" Drowzee laughed loud enough to echo throughout the entire mountain "I've been chased by many exploration teams in my day. Yet I've never seen a sorrier bunch than you two. Come on! Show me what you got!"

Priscilla taught me type advantages and disadvantages one night, so I knew exactly what move to use on Drowzee. I lunged at him with Bite, but he easily sidestepped it and I landed in the dirt. Drowzee threw his fist at Priscilla and it collided with her head, but the Eevee countered with a strong Tackle, knocking him back. As Drowzee skittered back, I slammed my teeth into his waist, drawing blood.

"Arrggg!" Drowzee tried to pry me off his body, but I wasn't letting go easily. I saw Priscilla pull out a Stun Seed and I closed my eyes as she threw it point-blank at Drowzee's face. As the flash paralyzed Drowzee, I chomped down again with Bite, my teeth sinking deeper into Drowzee's flesh. In a rage, Drowzee slammed me off his body and I managed to land on my feet. Priscilla dashed with Quick Attack to get close, but he instantly moved to the side to dodge even though he was stunned.

"I'm a Psychic type, fools! I can see the future!" Drowzee easily dodged my Bite attack, then pressed his fingers to his head, preparing a Confusion. The air around me grew more concentrated and my brain was hit with a mental shock. I was knocked to the ground by the impact, but managed to stand. While this was happening however, Priscilla leaped and slammed Drowzee to the ground with Tackle. I finished the battle with a swift punch to Drowzee's head, knocking him unconscious. 

"Are you okay Azurill?" Priscilla asked the sniffling Pokemon.

"Yeah… I'm okay" Azurill said, wiping his tears "T-thank you so much for rescuing me"

"Your big brother's waiting back at Treasure Town. Let's go home" Priscilla said.

"We should bring Drowzee's body too" I mentioned "Marill said he's going to contact the Treasure Town Police, so they are coming here to arrest Drowzee"

"Sounds good. You want to drag Drowzee?"

"Uhm… can't both of us do it?"

"Well, I have to protect Azurill and myself on the way down. I have responsibilities too, you know" Priscilla said playfully.

I sighed "Fine, guess I'll do it"

Just as we arrived at the base of Mt Bristle, we were greeted by a Magenezone and two Magnemite.

"ZZZT Thank you very much ZZZT" Magnezone said in a robotic voice as we handed Drowzee over to the police "If you don't know, I'm Officer Magnezone, the deputy of these parts. Pleased to meet you. ZZZT!"

"Pleasure to meet you too" Priscilla greeted "Can you take care of Drowzee? We have to escort this Azurill back to Treasure Town"

"ZZZT. Of course!" Magnezone replied "As a matter of fact, a Marill reported to the police station that his brother, an Azurill has been kidnapped and taken to Mt Bristle. This must be the Azurill they are talking about"

"Yep, it's the very same" Priscilla said "Well, we'll be on our way. Thank you for your help"

"No, thank YOU for arresting this outlaw. Might I ask your names?" Magnezone asked.

"I'm Priscilla and he's Silvin" Priscilla said "We're an exploration team called Team Skylar"

"Team Skylar… are you a team from Wigglytuff's Guild? ZZZT!"

"Yes, we are"

"Thank you. We'll see you back at the guild with your reward" Magnezone ordered his Magnemite officers to lift Drowzee up and take him back to town. We followed them.

"Azurill!" Marill called when he saw us walk into Treasure Town.

"Marill!" Azurill ran from our side towards his brother "I… I was so scared up there…"

"It's okay Azurill. You're safe now" Marill faced us "I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for rescuing Azurill. You… you two are heroes"

"Well… one rescue and arrest doesn't warrant us the honor of being called a "hero"" I said modestly and Priscilla hit my arm lightly.

"He means that we're heroes to them" Priscilla explained "You're so modest that sometimes, I wonder if you have self esteem"

"Hey now, let's not dwell on my emotional issues, or lack thereof" I said, hiding a smile.

"Anyways, we're happy you two are together again" Priscilla said to the two brothers "Please stay safe"

"Thank you!" Marill and Azurill called as we went back to the guild. We found Bidoof waiting at the entrance of the guild.

"S-sorry for suddenly running out on you Bidoof" Priscilla apologized "We just recognized the outlaw Drowzee in town and left to chase him"

"It's perfectly fine, yup yup" Bidoof didn't even look mad "I saw Officer Magnezone drag an unconscious Drowzee back to town, so it looks like you arrested him by golly!"

"Yeah and we managed to rescue a Treasure Town resident, Azurill too" Priscilla said proudly.

"Really? You pulled off a rescue mission too? Wow, you two are already professional explorers!" Bidoof praised "Oof. Already, the new recruits are better than me…"

"There, there Bidoof. I'm sure you still know more than us" Priscilla comforted.

"Oh no… I'm not upset or spiteful" Bidoof said, tears forming in his eyes "I'm… I'm just proud that people I taught are growing up, yup yup…"

"We should report to Chatot about our success" I said.

"Oh no, Magnezone already did it. He's coming to the guild later to give you the reward!" Bidoof confirmed.

"Well then, let's get some rest then. I'm exhausted" Priscilla said and we went into the guild. We walked back to our bedroom and took a much needed nap. We were later awoken by Chimecho's bell.

"Priscilla? Silvin?" Chimecho rang her bell from behind our door "Officer Magnezone wants to see you"

"Ah! Our reward! Thanks Chimecho" Me and Priscilla dashed up the ladder to the first floor and saw Magnezone waiting for us.

"ZZZT! Once again, thank you for capturing that outlaw Drowzee" Magnezone said "Here is your reward for the bounty's head: 3000 Poke, a Weather Band and a Protein"

"Thank you Officer" Priscilla accepted the items and cash, but Chatot came by and took 90% of our money, leaving us with only 300 Poke. Suddenly, Chimecho's bell rung, signally that it was time for dinner. We put aside the money issue and headed down to the mess hall.

After dinner, I laid in my hay bed, staring at the ceiling. I was happy we were able to rescue Azurill, but what were those visions I saw back in Treasure Town?

"Hey Silvin…" Priscilla said in her sleep "I just realized something"

"What is it?" I asked.

"Those visions you told me about… they were true"

She was right. I heard Azurill scream for help in the first vision and then saw Drowzee threatening Azurill in the second vision. Both turned out to be true.

"But I also realized that both those visions took place in the future" Priscilla murmured "So are you able to see events in the future?"

I wasn't sure, so I didn't respond, but Priscilla continued.

"Another thing I noticed is that you experienced both visions after touching something" Priscilla said "You had a nauseous and distraught look after you touched Azurill's apple and Drowzee's arm"

I marvelled at Priscilla institution. I would've never noticed these things if she didn't tell me.

"So from what I gathered… you're able to see future events if you touch something related to that event" Priscilla summed up "That… that'll be really useful for explorations"

"Yeah, I think it will" I was wondering more about if the ability was connected to my transformation into a Pokemon, but I supposed it worked for exploration purposes.

"Anyway… I'm tired now" Priscilla yawned "Goodnight Silvin"

"Goodnight Priscilla"


	4. The Gatekeepers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the surreal experience of the futuristic vision and the capture of Drowzee, Silvin and Priscilla resume their guild duties as usual. Today however, a new task awaits them, along with a hotheaded, but battle-ready team member...

Me and Priscilla continued on our usual routine for the next two days. Wake up, accept jobs, eat breakfast, do said jobs, come back, eat dinner and sleep. That was the usual routine until one day, Chatot called us over for a "special job"

"Diglett, the usual sentry guard, is going to be out with his father today" Chatot informed us "So you're going to be taking over sentry duty in his place!"

"What?! We don't even know how to pull off sentry duty!" Priscilla protested.

"Loudred will be able to provide you with the instructions" Chatot smiled "Go on, don't slack off on work!"

We meet up with Loudred in the southern-left corner of the second floor. There was a hole in the ground with a wooden ladder leading down. There wasn't a single light in sight.

"So what are we supposed to do Loudred?" I asked as I looked down the dark hole.

"You're supposed to go under the sentry gate and identify the footprint of any Pokemon visiting the guild" Loudred explained, a little too loud for my ears to handle "You remember the sentry gate, right?!"

I flashbacked to the time me and Priscilla visited the guild for the first time. We had to stand on the wooden grate in the entrance for Diglett to identify me and Priscilla's footprints.

"Yeah, I remember it" I replied "So after we identify the footprint, we call the Pokemon back to you?"

"Exactly" Loudred said "Chatot will be at the guild's entrance, grading your accuracy and performance. So don't screw this up!"

"Alright then. Let's get to work then" Me and Priscilla climbed down the ladder into the hole, feeling our way through the darkness.

"Oh! I see light over there Silvin!" Priscilla turned a corner and found a set of dirt stairs leading to a spot with bright sunshine beaming down.

"Hey! Did you get down there yet?!" Loudred yelled from the guild.

"Yeah! We're there!" Priscilla called back.

"Good! Chatot reported a Pokemon coming. Get ready!"

When the first Pokemon came over the grate, I was already stumped. Thankfully, Priscilla studied enough to know which footprint it was.

"Hmm… judging by the size of the footprint and the body shape of the Pokemon…" Priscilla turned back to the tunnel we came from "The Pokemon is Combusken! The Pokemon is Combusken!"

"Got it! Come in visitor!" Loudred called back. I heard Chatot's voice back in the guild and then Loudred's voice came back.

"Yep! Looks like you're right! Keep it up!"

The next Pokemon that came had a gigantic footprint. Based on the size of the print, it must've been a big or heavy Pokemon. I was surprised that the wooden grate didn't collapse under the pressure.

"I think that one is a… Torterra?" I pondered and Priscilla nodded.

"The Pokemon is Torterra! The Pokemon is Torterra!"

"Got it! Come in visitor!"

After a short delay, we heard Loudred's voice again.

"Hey! That wasn't a Torterra!"

"Wait what? It wasn't? Who was it then?!" Priscilla asked.

"It was a Rhydon! Try harder next time!"

"Oof. I guess we didn't think that through" I said, then looked up "Here comes the next Pokemon"

The next footprint was small, the shape being a simple circle. I glanced past the footprint and saw a ring of green leaves surrounding the Pokemon's beige colored neck.

"The Pokemon is Bayleef! The Pokemon is Bayleef!" Priscilla called back.

"Alright, come in visitor!"

A couple seconds later, Loudred came back.

"Yep! Looks like you got it right!"

Me and Priscilla high-fived each other before the next Pokemon came up. The next three were a Dragonair, a Spinda and a Machoke. We unfortunately got the Dragonair wrong, mistaking it for a Arbok. After the Machoke came into the guild, Loudred called out to us.

"Diglett came back! You two can come out now!"

We climbed the ladder out from the sentry hole and found Chatot waiting for us with a Treasure Bag at his side.

"I graded your performance today. Let me give you the results" Chatot drew a piece of paper from behind his back "Your performance today was… good. Can be improved, but good. Here's your reward"

From Chatot's Treasure Bag, he produced 50 Poke, along with a Reviver Seed and Stun Seed. Reviver Seeds, as Priscilla told me, can revive dead Pokemon and bring them back into a fresh state. The catch was that Reviver Seeds only worked a few minutes after death. Once Chatot was finished, he told us to get back to work as usual. I glanced out the window when we passed by Wigglytuff's Guild. The sun was still high in the sky. It was only noon.

"We should go check for jobs on the notice boards" Priscilla said, already high on the ladder to the first floor "What are you looking at Silvin? Let's go"

We ended up taking two rescue missions at Mt Bristle, but before we could leave, Chimecho called out for us.

"Silvin! Priscilla! Wait a moment!" Chimecho rang her bell loudly to get our attention. We spotted Chimecho down by the window at the right corner of the first floor, hovering over a sort of stand. We came over to where she was and Chimecho began talking.

"I set up a new service here!" Chimecho announced.

Priscilla looked at Chimecho, puzzled "What new service?"

"I call it Chimecho Assembly!" Chimecho exclaimed "Did you ever want to have more members on your team to go into dungeons with?"

"More team members for Team Skylar? Sure, we'll be happy to have them!" Priscilla and I nodded in unison.

"Now with this service, you can!" Chimecho proclaimed "I can ring the "Bell of Friendship" to allow your team to recruit Pokemon!"

"Bell of Friendship? Really?" I slapped my forehead.

"Eh heh, it was a name Sunflora came up with" Chimecho smiled sheepishly "Anyway, let me ring the bell"

Chimecho shook from side to side, making a vibrant bell sound echo through the guild.

"And there you go! Your team is now able to recruit new members in dungeons!" Chimecho informed.

"Thank you very much Chimecho. We'll be heading off now" Me and Priscilla said goodbye to Chimecho and headed towards Mt Bristle.

"According to the job report, we have to rescue a Chimchar at Floor 4 and a Tropius at Floor 6" Priscilla said "Let's get going Silvin"

We moved through the familiar mountain range, taking down any Pokemon that attacked us. After doing a couple rescue missions and outlaw captures, me and Priscilla have gotten a lot stronger. The Starly were hardly a threat anymore. On Floor 2, I noticed the steps to the next floor in the room next to us.

"Priscilla! The steps are over here!" I called and the Eevee followed me through the hallway. When I arrived in the room though, a Starly ambushed me by peaking me with Quick Attack. I flinched and stepped back, but the Starly continued it's assault with strong Tackles. I blocked the attacks with my arms, but the Starly's strength was impressive. It didn't leave any room for me to attack. I wanted to take that as an advantage. Just as the Starly went in for another dive, I released my guard and allowed the Starly to tackle me in the chest, it's peak puncturing through my flesh. That was exactly what I needed.

"Hurrkk…. rah!" I focused all the energy of Starly's attack into my hand and slammed it to the ground with Counter. The Starly tumbled to the ground hard and rolled away, clearly wounded from the Counter attack. Before I could rush forward to finish it off, it held up it's wings in a "stop" motion.

"Wait! Can I just tell you something first?" The Starly asked.

The white aura of Quick Attack around my legs slowly faded as the Starly began to talk.

"As I was battling you, I noticed that you're very strong" The Starly said "And that tactic you used with Counter? Genius!"

"So uh… are you surrendering or should I knock you out?" I asked uneasily.

"Are you part of an exploration team?"

"Yeah. We're Team Skylar"

"Excellent!"

I stared at the Starly with wide eyes "Excellent what?"

"I want to join your exploration team! Can I join you? Please?" The Starly pleaded.

"Umm, yeah sure. Priscilla, this Starly wants to join our team" I said.

"Oh! That's great! What's your name?" Priscilla asked like she was talking to a little kid and she was the mother.

"I'm Henry! I hope I can be a good help to you guys!" Henry grinned.

"Nice to meet you Henry. I'm Silvin" I offered Henry my hand, but he flinched when he rose his gray wing.

"Youch! Looks like I haven't recovered from your attack yet" Henry let out a small laugh "You wouldn't happen to have any Oran Berries on you, right?"

Priscilla fished an Oran Berry out from her bag and handed it to Henry. The Starly chomped it down in seconds.

"Ah! Feels good to spread my wings" Henry stood up and flapped his wings a little "Now then, to return the handshake"

Henry shook hands with me. Well, it was more like a hand to wing shake, but that was the general idea. Afterwards, Priscilla introduced herself.

"I'm Priscilla, co-leader of Team Skylar. Welcome to the team!" Priscilla shook paw to wing with Henry.

"Thanks you two! Just tell me what to do and I'll get going right away!" Henry said enthusiastically.

"Just follow us for now. If any Pokemon attack us, I want you to fight and knock them out" I said.

"Alright! That's easy enough!"

Priscilla laughed "Hotheaded aren't you? It's going to be fun with you on our team"

We ascended the floors of Mt Bristle, rescuing the Chimchar on Floor 4 and the Tropius on Floor 6. Henry proved to be very strong, stronger than me and Priscilla by a long shot. He was very fast too, easily darting around the enemy and diving down with swooping attacks. Sadly, the bird couldn't take a hit very easily, but advantages had to be offset by disadvantages. On Floor 6, I took off my rescue badge and showed it to Tropius. A yellow aura formed around the Pokemon feet and he teleported out of the dungeon.

"Looks like that's it" Priscilla said, pulling a Escape Orb out from her bag "Shall we go?"

"Yeah, let's head back to the guild" I said and Priscilla shattered the Escape Orb onto the ground. A large circle of blue aura enveloped me, Priscilla and Henry, teleporting out of the dungeon. We met up with our clients back in guild, where they thanked us for saving them and bestowed rewards. We got a total of 700 Poke (after Chatot robbed 90% of it), a Special Band, two Oran Berries and a strange looking orange ribbon.

"That's the Sun Ribbon" the Tropius told us "I just had it lying around my house and I didn't know what to do with it. You can take it. Maybe you two can find out what it does"

After Tropius and Chimchar left, I glanced out the window on the first floor. The sun was beginning to set over the horizon and dinner was about to be served.

"There's not enough room for Henry in the guild bedrooms" Priscilla thought aloud "So where can he stay?"

"I noticed some camp supplies at Kecleon's Shop back in Treasure Town" I commented "We could set up a tent or some sort of post for Henry to stay in"

"Or perhaps we can set up a base in a nearby area" Priscilla pulled her Treasure Map from her bag and spread it over the ground "We should set up our base in an easy-to-reach area, like Tiny Meadow or Lush Prairie in the east"

"Hey guys, maybe we can do this when we get more team members" Henry interrupted "All I need to rest at night is a post for me to roost on. We can think of setting up a team base later"

"Eh heh. Yeah, you're right" Priscilla rolled up her map "Sorry, I got carried away there"

"No problem! Let's just head down to Kecleon's Shop before dinner time starts!" we dashed out of the guild and towards Treasure Town, where we stored the items we picked up in Mt Bristle in Kangaskhan Storage. Then, we bought a wooden post from Kecleon's Shop for Henry to roost on. We also purchased a basic red tent in case Henry got cold. The supplies cost us a heavy amount considering our balance, but we had a ton of Oran Berries in storage, so hunger wasn't an issue. After we got the post and tent, we set it up on the outskirts of Treasure Town, right atop Sharpedo Bluff.

"Time for me to go hunt for dinner!" Henry licked his beak "See you two in the morning!"

"Be careful and stay safe!" Priscilla called and Henry flew away from Treasure Town. After I nailed the last peg of the tent, me and Priscilla headed back to the guild, just in time for dinner. Later in the night, when me and Priscilla were preparing to sleep, Priscilla began to talk.

"Whew, what a day it's been" Priscilla commented as she smoothed her hay bed "Our first job as sentry guards and our first recruitment. All of it was so exciting!"

"Yeah, having another member on the team is nice" I said "Especially someone as hot headed and enthusiastic as Henry"

"It's good to have another person to watch out back" Priscilla agreed, then looked out the window "I hope he's safe right now…"

"Don't worry. Henry's a very strong Pokemon. I doubt many Pokemon can take him down easily" I reassured.

Priscilla laughed "You're right. Henry's fine. Let's get to sleep Silvin"

"Goodnight Priscilla"

"Goodnight Silvin. Sweet dreams"


	5. Waterfall of Illusion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Don't judge a book by it's cover". Such a saying can apply to so many scenarios and that's no different for the mission Silvin, Priscilla and Henry undertake today: to investigate a seemingly-normal waterfall near Serenity River. To all, it's a normal waterfall, but mysteries belay it's grand nature...

Sentry duty ended up being merged with our regular schedule. Wake up, accept rescue or outlaw missions, do those missions, come back, eat dinner and sleep. But on some occasions, Diglett was out of the guild with his father, so we had to take over sentry duty for him. We eventually got better at identifying footprints and even got a perfect score, earning us 2000 Poke, a Protein and a Ginseng. The best part was that Chatot didn't take 90% of our cash from running sentry duty, so the 2000 Poke was all ours. But Chatot once again gives us a surprise when he calls us over after morning briefing.

"I'd like to give you two a special mission today" Chatot said.

"Oh boy, what is it?" Priscilla's ears perked up at the mention of a special mission.

"Our scouting team has located a waterfall a little up north nearby Serenity River" Chatot informed "Here's the catch: it looks to be a regular waterfall, but certain information clues to it having a secret"

"Oh I see. So we're supposed to head over and investigate this waterfall" Priscilla assumed.

"Exactly. If you discover anything, come back and report it to me. That's your assignment for today" Chatot said "Get going once you two are ready"

So we left the guild, stocked up on supplies at Kecleon's Shop and visited Henry's post before leaving. Henry was sleeping on his pole, snoring contently.

"Henry? Are you awake?" Priscilla gently poked Henry's chest with her paw and the bird snapped awake, loudly chirping.

"Wha! Who…" Henry rested his eyes on Priscilla and me below him "Oh, good morning Silvin and Priscilla!"

"Good morning Henry. We're heading out on a mission today. Want to tag along?" Priscilla asked.

"Yeah sure" Henry yawned and stretched his wings "Where are we heading?"

"We're going a little northeast to a waterfall nearby Serenity River" I told Henry "We're supposed to investigate the waterfall for any secrets"

"Sounds interesting. We're going now?"

"Yeah we are"

"Alright then. Lead the way" Henry hopped off his pole "By the way, you got any food? I didn't eat breakfast"

I dug an apple from my bag and gave it to Henry, who began crunching on it contently. Priscilla opened up her Wonder Map and pointed to the waterfall nearby.

"This is our destination" Priscilla said "Shall we go?"

"Yep, lead the way!" I said.

We traveled northeast until we found ourselves at the rushing Serenity River and a waterfall nearby. A set of stone stairs lead up to a platform next to the waterfall itself.

"So… where should we start looking?" Priscilla stared intently at the rushing rapids of the waterfall.

"I'll go into the air and see if I can find anything" Henry offered.

"Yeah, you do that" I gazed at the cliff atop the waterfall "We'll shout if we need you"

"Alright then. See you!" And Henry shot into the sky.

"Hmm…" Priscilla approached the waterfall and extended her paw into the water "Youch!"

"Priscilla? Are you okay?" I rushed to her side, but she seemed okay.

"Y-yeah, I'm fine" Priscilla massaged her paw and stared at the waterfall "It's really coming down hard"

"Yeah, it is…" I reached into the gushing water with my hand, then immediately pulled back "Oof!"

"Yeah, the falls hurt" Priscilla gave a small smile, then looked around "What do you think could be off with this place? It just looks like a regular waterfall"

I was about to reply, but a familiar nauseous feeling invaded my body again. The same feeling I felt when I experienced the visions of Azurill and Drowzee. Suddenly, my vision went black and I saw a Pokemon cloaked in darkness waddle away from the stone platform, as if preparing to jump. The Pokemon ran at full speed and charged into the waterfall, landing in a cavern covered in mossy rocks. Then, the vision shut off. I shook my head to shake off the nausea. I was about to wonder what the vision shown me when Priscilla's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"There doesn't seem to be any… Hey Silvin!" Priscilla waved her hand in front of my face "You got a distraught look on your face again. Something happen?"

I told her what I saw in my vision. 

"You saw a Pokemon leap through the waterfall and land on the other side?!" Priscilla repeated, eyes wide.

"Yes and if the vision is right, the secret of this waterfall is beyond the waterfall!" I proclaimed.

"But what if you vision is wrong?" Priscilla didn't look convinced "If we leap through the waterfall and there's a solid wall behind it… we'll be smashed to pieces!"

"Come on Priscilla. It's the only clue we got" I urged and Priscilla sighed.

"Alright… we can try" Priscilla's voice was quiet, then rose "Yes, we'll try it! I trust you Silvin, so let's do it!"

"Hey Henry! Come back down!" I shouted into the sky and the Starly flew back to the platform.

"Something up Silvin?"

"We're going to attempt to jump through the waterfall" I explained and Henry gasped. Before he could protest, I continued.

"I just had a vision that a Pokemon leaped through this waterfall and ended up in a cavern on the other side. That means the secret of this waterfall is beyond the waterfall!" I declared, pointing at the rushing water.

"But Silvin… what if the vision is wrong?" Henry asked.

"Trust me, Silvin's visions proved to be true twice" Priscilla commented "His visions shown an Azurill crying for help and a Drowzee threatening that same Azurill. In the future!"

Henry couldn't argue against it, so he sighed.

"Alright then, let's do it. If you two claim Silvin's received a divine revelation, I can't argue against it" 

"Okay, you two. We have to run at top speed to bypass the falls and land on the cavern edge" I instructed as I backed up on the platform "If you jump too early or too weakly, you'll be bombarded by the waterfall and most likely killed, so do it with your full strength!"

All three of us backed up on the platform and got ready to leap.

"Three… two… one… JUMP!" We dashed as fast as we could and jumped at the platform's edge. We barreled through the icy cold water and landed hard on a stone floor. I got up and shook the water out from my body, then looked around. Two pools of water were next to us, with mossy rocks surrounding it along with covering the floor we stood on. The vision I saw was true!

"Your vision was right Silvin!" Priscilla gave me a big smile "There really is a secret cave behind the waterfall!"

"I didn't actually think you were right Silvin" Henry shook the water off his body "But now, I think I'm starting to really like you. Lead us to the treasure, leader!"

"Alright, you two! Follow me!" And we entered the Waterfall Cave.

Three words to describe Waterfall Cave: dark, damp and creepy. I was thankful Priscilla remembered to bring dry sticks and rocks to create torches. But the fiery light did little to dispel the damp aura and the eerie lack of sound. Aside from that, Waterfall Cave was host to a lot of Water type Pokemon, similar to Beach Cave and Drenched Bluff. An Wooper jumped out at us from a corner, startling all of us. I was so surprised that I couldn't initiate an attack, so the Wooper shot first. It launched a spray of water at us, dousing my torch.

"Thanks buddy" I growled before rearing back my fist to punch the Wooper's lights out. I slugged forward with my regular attack, but the Wooper jumped to dodge it and landed on my back. I was about to try and swat it off, but Priscilla slammed into me with Tackle and took out the Wooper.

"Oww! You didn't need to bash into me Priscilla!" I scowled at the smirking Eevee.

"I didn't want to see you flailing around screaming "Get it off me!", so I solved the problem for you. You're welcome" Priscilla gave me a sly smile.

I sighed "I need another dry stick and stone. My torch got doused"

We continued through the cavern, unaware of how many floors we had to travel before reaching the end. On occasion, we found apples and berries lying on the ground, but they were soggy and wet from the damp conditions. We also picked up a couple orbs and some sort of candy called Gummi.

"Gummis are high-end Pokemon treats" Priscilla explained "The colour of the gummi indicates the type of Pokemon who like it the most"

I stared at the sky blue gummi in my hand, then I heard Henry behind me.

"Phew! That Whiscash was a handful to take care of…" Henry wiped the sweat off his brow, then noticed the Sky Gummi in my palm "Can… can I have that?"

"Henry, your mouth is dripping"

It was true. Henry's beak was literally drooling at the sight of the Sky Gummi. I guess they really were that good.

"I'm guessing that this gummi is favored by Flying types" I said to Priscilla next to me.

"Judging by the way Henry is drooling right now, I guess so" Priscilla nudged my arm "Give it to him before he floods the place"

I handed Henry the Sky Gummi and he popped it into his beak immediately, chewing on it contently.

"Hoo, haven't had one of those in a while!" Henry spread his wings and chirped happily "Now come on! I can feel the treasure nearby!"

We continued onwards, heading up the 5th, 6th and 7th floor until we reached the end. The hallway lead into a clearing with millions of jewels and precious stones studded into the rock.

"Whoa! Look at all this treasure!" Priscilla went around the clearing, examining every sparkling gem she could see "We could be rich if we brought all of this back to the guild!"

"Wow! Look at that one!" Henry seemed to be just as excited as Priscilla was when he pointed to a large pink jewel on the wall. The gem was bigger than all the others here.

"Ooh, let's try to take that!" Priscilla and Henry rushed over and attempted to pry the jewel from the wall, but it didn't budge.

"Hhurrkk… gahhh!" Priscilla grunted as she tried to pull the gem from its place in the wall, but it barely moved.

"Hey Silvin! Can you try to pull this out?" Henry called and I came over. The two stood aside as I positioned my hands over the large jewel. I pulled with all my might, but it didn't move an inch.

"Holy… this thing's… not… moving!" I grunted as I continued pulling, but to no avail.

"Let me try again" I got off the jewel and let Priscilla take over. But once my hands left the gem, I got another feeling of nausea. The visions were coming back. The nausea persisted until my sight went black and I saw the same shadowy Pokemon attempting to pry out the gem. He lurched forward, pushing the gem into the wall and a button click echoed through the clearing. Suddenly, the cave shook and an intense wave of water rushed out from the Pokemon's right, carrying it out of the cave and away from the gems. Then the vision shut off. I blinked, then realize that Priscilla was about to push again the gem to try and loosen it out.

"Priscilla wait…" But I was too late. The eerie button click was sounded and the entire cave shook.

"Whoa, whoa! What's going on?" Priscilla cried, shocked.

"Wave! A huge water wave!" Henry shouted as a huge blast of water rocketed from our right, carrying us out of the cavern. The water blasted us out of the Waterfall Cave like a geyser and over the high trees. I braced for impact and then…

Splash

"Hey! Wake up! Are you three okay?!"

I opened my eyes to a Primeape looking over me "Oh good! You're okay!"

I looked around and saw Priscilla and Henry still unconscious. Me and the Primeape roused them awake too.

"W-where are we?" Priscilla murmured as she woke up.

"You're in the Hot Springs, youngster" An old-looking Torkoal said above us "You are welcome to use this to refresh your body and mind"

"T-thank you. But I'm sorry to have dropped in umm… uninvited" Priscilla apologized.

"You gave us quite a shock!" A Mankey chimed in "But I'm glad you three are okay"

"Tell me, where did you three come from? How did you land here from the sky?" Torkoal asked.

Priscilla told Torkoal the whole story and he gasped in shock.

"All the way from the waterfall nearby Serenity River? Oh my, you must be so tired!" Torkoal said, concerned "You are welcome to stay here a while to rest up"

"Thank you very much Torkoal" Priscilla nodded in thanks. We relaxed in the hot springs for a while until we decided to head back to Treasure Town. We bid our goodbyes to Torkoal and headed off. We arrived back at the guild at sunset.

"You're telling me that there's a secret cave behind the waterfall and a treasure trove of jewels at the end?" Chatot repeated what Priscilla said with an excited tone.

"Yeah, but we weren't able to recover any of the treasure…" Priscilla replied sadly, but Chatot didn't care about that.

"Are you kidding? The discovery of the cave is huge!" Chatot said.

"Huh? It is?" Priscilla lifted her head.

"Yes! This is a huge discovery! I have to tell the Guildmaster!" Chatot was about to go into Wigglytuff's chambers when I called out.

"Wait"

Chatot turned.

"Just a word Chatot. I just remembered something" I recalled the vision of when I saw the shadowy Pokemon leap into the waterfall and when it attempted to pry the pink jewel. The body shape of the Pokemon looked so familiar. The shape of the ears, body and feet all pointed to…

"I think Guildmaster Wigglytuff visited the Waterfall Cave before!" I claimed and both Chatot and Priscilla gasped.

"But why would the Guildmaster send you out to investigate the waterfall if he already explored it?" Chatot asked.

"Maybe he forgot? You know Wigglytuff better than us" Priscilla commented.

Chatot sighed "I'll ask the Guildmaster if he explored the cave before. Be right back"

A minute later, Chatot returned, looking disappointed.

"What happened?" I asked.

"When I asked him if he explored the waterfall before he said…" Chatot cleared his throat ""Oh memories! Sweet memories! YOOM-TAH!""

"And then he danced around a bit, then said…" Chatot continued ""Yes, yes, if I think about, I believe I've been there once already""

"So he… explored the waterfall already…" Priscilla slumped in defeat.

"It's just as Silvin suspected. The Guildmaster has already been to Waterfall Cave" Chatot sighed "And here I hoped that you two found out a new area to explore"

"S-sorry Chatot"

"No, no, it isn't your fault. Anyways, dinner is about to start. You should get to the mess hall"

After dinner, me and Priscilla went to our bedroom. As usual, she talked to me before we fell asleep.

"I was really disappointed that we didn't find out a new area today" Priscilla said "But you know… I had a lot of fun exploring the Waterfall Cave"

"Really? How so?" I asked.

"The thrill of finding a new area and being the first person to explore it. It just really made me excited" Priscilla explained "I was shaking from excitement the whole time!"

"Yeah, it was a fun experience" I smiled.

"But I have to confess Silvin, the strongest moment of this exploration was when we leapt through that waterfall" Priscilla touched my arm, getting in a little close "To be honest, I feel really brave and courageous whenever you're around. You gave me the courage to jump through that waterfall"

I blushed "You wouldn't believe me if I didn't have that effect on you?"

Priscilla giggled "Probably not"

I quickly hugged Priscilla, which made her blush bright red "Then let's stick together then. I can always use your vast array of knowledge"

"Yes… let's stay together" Priscilla couldn't hide her joy, but I did her a favor and didn't stare. I adjusted my hay bed and laid down to sleep. My eyes began to close when I heard Chatot's voice through our door.

"Hey, you two! The Guildmaster wants to see you!" Chatot called.

"I wonder what he wants" me and Priscilla got out of bed and headed to Wigglytuff's chambers.

"Guildmaster Wigglytuff, I brought Team Skylar here, as you requested" Chatot said.

Wigglytuff didn't even turn towards us.

"Guildmaster? Guildmaster…?" Chatot grew uneasy, then Wigglytuff's turned suddenly.

"Hiya!"

"I hate it when he does that" Priscilla muttered.

"Your team went through a lot today! Yes, a lot-lot!" Wigglytuff said "But don't worry! I'm keeping a watch on your activities"

Both of us remained silent.

"I should tell you why I called you here" Wigglytuff began "We're planning to mount a full expedition soon!"

Priscilla stared at Wigglytuff, confused "An expedition?"

"Yes! A guild expedition is when the guild travels very far away" Chatot explained "It's much harder than exploring our nearby area"

"That's why we need to prepare for the big trip properly" Chatot continued "We're carefully choosing who gets to go on the expedition"

"Oh, that's interesting" Priscilla commented.

"We usually never, ever consider rookies to be expedition members" Wigglytuff said "But you two are working so very hard, so we're making a special exception this time!"

"We decided to include you in the list of candidates for the expedition" Chatot finished.

"Wow really?" Priscilla's eyes lit up.

"Now now, don't get your hopes high yet" Chatot chided "You aren't chosen as expedition members yet. There are a few days before the expedition after all"

"If you fail to do good work before we choose expedition members…" Chatot warned "... Don't expect to be selected for the expedition"

"You two work hard for the next few days and I'm sure you'll be picked" Wigglytuff encouraged "Try hard you two!"

"We promise!"

After the conversation with Wigglytuff and Chatot, we ended up back in our bedrooms.

"An expedition! Isn't it exciting Silvin?" Priscilla asked, her tone filled with joy.

"I wonder where we're going to go" I replied, fidgeting with the hay on my bed "The guild expeditions go "really far away", so we're definitely leaving this region"

"I don't know, but I'm so excited about it!" Priscilla smiled "Let's do hard work and get selected for the expedition alright?"

"You know I wouldn't let you down"

"I know. Goodnight Silvin"

"Goodnight Priscilla"


	6. Stench of Deception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The announcement of the guild's expedition has the guild fired up in excitement, including Silvin and Priscilla. However, such a grand event invites unsavory characters and that speaks nothing to the two rogues who robbed Priscilla days ago. They and their leader catch wind of the expedition and depart to plot, casting dark shadows over what-should-be a life changing experience...

"UP AND AT EM! IT'S MORNING!" Loured shouted as usual. Even behind a solid wooden door, my ears were still ringing from Loured's wake up call. Priscilla got up and wiped her eyes, yawning.

"Good morning Silvin…" The Eevee said sleepily.

"After all these weeks, I'm surprised you're still sleepy after Loudred's alarm" I smiled as I tapped Priscilla's shoulder to rouse her. The Eevee eventually shook her drowsiness away and joined me to go to morning briefing.

"Ahem, so as I was saying, there is a lake far to the east" Chatot was winding down the conversation, detailing about the upcoming expedition "There are many aspects of the lake that remain mysterious"

"Aspects like…?" Priscilla wondered aloud.

"And so, we hope to unravel those mysteries" Chatot ignored Priscilla's question and continued "Which is why we're mounting an expedition for the first time in a while"

"An expedition you say? Yes, please! Yes sirree!" Bidoof exclaimed excitedly.

"It's been a long time since we've been on an expedition!" Sunflora bounced.

"But that means you'll be picking members for the expedition from ALL of us again, right?" Loudred piped up.

"Precisely" Chatot silenced the team with a sharp shush "We'll be departing in a few days and during the time, me and Guildmaster Wigglytuff will be observing your process. If you do well in your work, we may consider you to join the expedition team"

"Let's work hard to get into the expedition everybody!" Sunflora cheered and everyone cheered alongside her.

"Alright everyone! It's back to work as usual!" Chatot called out.

"HOORAY!" Everyone cheered and dispersed, me and Priscilla heading towards the 1st floor to check the notice board. When we made our way up however, a pair of Pokemon were already at the rescue job board.

Priscilla suddenly tensed, stopping in her tracks "Silvin… those two Pokemon…"

I followed her gaze and stepped back. The pair were a Koffing and Zubat, the exact Pokemon who robbed Priscilla of her Relic Fragment back at Beach Cave.

"We'll step away quietly and not draw attention to ourselves" I whispered as me and Priscilla slowly backed away, heading towards the outlaw board "What are those two doing here?"

"I don't know. They might be in a exploration team but…" Priscilla trailed off, clearly not knowing what the two rogues were here for. Before we could get away though, the pair turned and noticed us.

"Hey!" Zubat called, beckoning us forward.

"You two?" Koffing grinned as we walked forward slowly.

"What are you two crooks doing here?" Priscilla demanded, fury clear in her eyes.

"Whoa-ho-ho I'll have you know that we're an exploration team too!" Koffing cackled.

"Heh-heh-heh what's so funny about an exploration team checking out a notice board huh?" Zubat cackled alongside his partner.

"What?! You're… you're an exploration team?!" Priscilla was taken aback by the revelation. These two thieves couldn't possibly be a exploration team, helping out people or taking down outlaws. They were the sort of people that would end up on the outlaw board.

"Of course. Although, we don't always operate… by the book" Koffing had a sinister grin on his face "But what a surprise! What are you doing here?"

"Well, I'll have you know we're an exploration team too!" Priscilla proclaimed "That's why we're training at the guild"

Both Koffing and Zubat stared at Priscilla and me in shock.

"Whaaattt?!"

"You two want to become real-deal exploration team?!"

The two Pokemon looked at each other for a second, then seized Priscilla by the arm.

"You! Come with us for a second" Koffing pushed Priscilla forward, taking her to the notice board. They shoved her towards a wooden sign so I wouldn't hear them. Their voices were so loud that I heard them anyways.

"Now don't take what I'm about to say the wrong way" Koffing began "But you should just forget about being on an exploration team!"

"What? Why?!" Priscilla looked flabbergasted.

"Well, you're timid for one thing. You scare easily" Zubat replied "A scaredy cat like you can't cut it on an exploration team"

"Clearly you haven't been watching me then" Priscilla countered, anger flaring in her eyes "Who are you to call me timid?"

"Please tell us what you did to break out of your old self!" Koffing said sarcastically.

"I'm undergoing guild training obviously, if you couldn't tell" Priscilla explained "Even now, me and Silvin are working hard to be picked for the guild expedition"

I almost wanted to slap my hand over Priscilla's mouth.

"Oh, an expedition you say?" Koffing got a dark smile on his face.

Priscilla arched her eyebrows "What are you two thinking now?"

"Oh nothing. Effort only gets you so far you know" Zubat commented "You won't get picked for the expedition team party if you don't have talent, right?"

"Are you saying that I have no talent?!" Priscilla was fuming "You talk about talent, but what do you have? You two were so weak that WE beat you!"

"Whoa-ho-ho! Well, we didn't have the Chief with us" Koffing didn't seem fazed by Priscilla's sharp words.

"Chief?" Priscilla's anger was replaced by curiosity.

"Heh-heh. That's right" Zubat grinned "Team Skull, our exploration team has three members"

"Our Chief is incredibly talented" Koffing commented.

"To put it bluntly, he's brutally tough" Zubat continued "Heh-heh, if the Chief were around, we'd snap you like a twig"

"You…. you…" Priscilla balled her fists "Are you threatening me with death?!"

"Oh no, we wouldn't" Koffing said innocently, then perked up "Ah ha! Speaking of the Chief, I can smell him now!"

"Smell?" Me and Priscilla turned to the ladder leading from the entrance.

"Here comes the Chief!" Zubat announced. A Skuntank climbed down the ladder, getting right into my face.

"Move! Out of the way!" The Skuntank headbutted me hard in the chest, slamming me into the ground. Not only that, but a large cloud of gas enveloped me, with a stench better not explained. I fought to not inhale the gas. Even then, I felt my entire bloodstream getting contaminated with poison.

"Ugh! What's that… awful stench!" Priscilla covered her nose and tried to swat away the cloud of gas. The gas cloud moved towards the others on the first floor, with Sunflora crying out that it smelled like rotten cheese.

"That's foul, yes sirree!" Bidoof's eyes were watering.

"Hey, hey! My eyes are burning!" Corphish's eyes were red and puffy as he desperately tried to wipe it away. While that was happening, Skuntank advanced on Priscilla.

"Move it! Or do you want to end up like that wimp over there?!" Skuntank threatened.

"Mercy please, mercy…" Priscilla said quietly as she stepped aside, coming to my aid.

"Chief!" Koffing cheered.

"You showed them Chief! You're the best!" Zubat cheered alongside Koffing.

"Yeah, yeah whatever" Skuntank brushed off the praise like it was nothing "So, you two, did you sniff out any jobs that'll bring in the cash?"

"The Job Bulletin Board only posted cheap jobs but…" Koffing began and Zubat continued.

"There's something else Chief. It's got the potential to be something big…" Zubat leaned in to whisper into Skuntank's ear. I was too weakened to try and listen. After Zubat pulled away, Skuntank bristled.

"What? An expedition from this guild?" Skuntank repeated Zubat's message "That DOES sound tasty"

"Doesn't it?" Koffing smiled.

"Let's get out of here. We need to do some plotting" Skuntank commanded "Come on, let's go"

"Yeah!" Koffing and Zubat both said in unison, following their leader out of the guild. Once they were gone, Priscilla helped me up. I coughed and sputtered while wiping my eyes. I felt like I've inhaled twenty Poison Gases at once while splashing my eyes with lemon juice.

"Are you okay Silvin?" Priscilla asked gently.

"I'm uhh…" It was a struggle to even speak "Y-yeah, I'm… I'm okay"

"Thank goodness. At least you weren't injured" Priscilla breathed a sigh of relief "Although you still stink"

"Wow, thanks for reminding me" I replied sarcastically "I'm going to need to visit Serenity River for a bath it seems"

"There's a small lake on the trail outside of Treasure Town. You can bathe there if you like" Priscilla offered "Don't worry, I'll guard the entrance for you"

"Yeah, I'll do that later" I nodded "That whole scene was really rough"

"I'm so sorry Silvin" Priscilla apologized "I couldn't work up the courage to challenge him in the face, even after he attacked you. I'm… I'm such a coward…"

"Priscilla, you did what you did to keep yourself safe" I said, putting my hand on her shoulder "I'd rather have you be safe than risk your life to fight Team Skull"

"Still, if I can't work up the courage to fight, how can I be an explorer?" Priscilla asked "A chicken like me has no place in a exploration team"

"Don't take Koffing's words to heart Priscilla. I know you'll become a great explorer" I said comfortingly "You're no chicken. You just weren't strong enough to challenge Skuntank"

"I know you're right, but I feel so ashamed for letting Team Skull get away scot-free" Priscilla hung her head in shame "I just stood there and let you be attacked. I couldn't do anything…"

"One day, we'll get back at them. I promise" I smiled as bright as I could and she smiled back "Now then, let's find a job to do"

We ended up grabbing three jobs in the Waterfall Cave, two rescues and one outlaw mission. Everytime we rescued someone, they commented on my stench.

"I get it, I stink! Can we stop talking about it already?" I growled, irritated. Behind me, Priscilla and Henry were plugging their noses with their hands.

"You know, I think you should of taken the bath before we departed" Priscilla commented as she Tackled another Wooper.

"It's really hard to concentrate with that Skuntank smell lingering" Henry said while taking down a Barboach with Quick Attack. Eventually, we finished all our jobs and returned to the guild to collect our pay. Along the way, we found the lake that Priscilla recommended I bathed in. I sent Henry to the guild to collect our money and rewards while me and Priscilla stayed in the lake.

"You know, without soap, I don't think this is going to help" I said as I sat waist deep in the shallow water, letting it wash away the dirt and grime covering my body "Priscilla, do you mind finding Henry to go buy a bar of soap or something?"

"Do they even sell that here?" Priscilla wondered out loud, then shrugged "I'll go ask. Be right back"

Several minutes later, Priscilla returned, holding a freshly bought bar of soap that smelled like strawberries.

"Now that I think about it, I remember my parents washing me using this when I was a baby" Priscilla mentioned as she handed me the soap. Then it occurred to me. This was the first time Priscilla ever mentioned her parents.

"Priscilla, if you don't mind me asking…" I began as I scrubbed some more grime off my body "Are you parents okay? You haven't mentioned them at all until now"

"My parents… are dead Silvin" the Eevee replied, instantly deadpanning "They fell victim to disease"

"Oh… my condolences then" You can't say much in the light of death "So how long have you been living alone?"

"Over 6 years at least. They died when I was just a young child before pre-teenage years" Priscilla explained "I prioritized my survival over everything else, so… I didn't have the money nor time to actually bathe using soap"

"I see" I lathered the soap around my body, letting the lake's waters wash away the foam. The strawberry scent banished Skuntank's stench thankfully "Uhm… do you mind…"

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Priscilla blushed, then turned away. Though I wore no clothing usually (as a Pokemon, not a human), I knew that watching someone bathe was apparently very rude. I guess Pokemon share the same customs. Once I felt like the stench was gone, I got out of the lake, drying myself off in the sunset sun. I didn't know what to do with the soap, but Priscilla just took it and put it back into the box it came from. I suppose it was reusable? When we reached the crossroads, a Wynaut and Wobbuffet stopped us.

"Oh a customer, is it not?" The Wynaut and Wobbuffet waddled up to us "Good day, is it not? The new shop, Spinda's Cafe is now open!"

"It is?" I faintly remember a hole being dug on the lower left of the crossroads, with a sign next to it saying "Spinda's Cafe, coming soon! Where all your dreams can come true!" or something like that. I didn't expect it to be finished and have workers this fast.

"This wonderful shop is overflowing with hopes and dreams, is it not?" Wynaut continued.

"Hopes and dreams?" Priscilla looked like she was trying not to laugh. I was too, from Wynaut's corny description of the shop.

"That's right!" Wobbuffet said, as if she was waiting to say it. I could tell she was female by the red "lipstick" on her mouth.

"Hey! Why not come in? Don't be shy!" Wynaut offered.

"Eh, it couldn't hurt" Me and Priscilla stepped down into the cafe, with Wynaut and Wobbuffet following us. We found ourselves in a brightly lit room filled with tables and had two bars in the back, with a large amount of posters between them. A variety of Pokemon were dining on said tables, with large glasses filled with various kinds of smoothies.

"Wow, this place is huge!" Priscilla stared at the cafe in awe. The Spinda in the middle of the room, who seemed to be the one in charge, beckoned us forward.

"Hello and welcome to Spinda's Cafe!" The Spinda gave a welcoming smile "My name is Spinda and I'm the owner of this cafe"

"Great place you got here. Looks popular already" I observed.

"This is a cafe for explorers who enjoy finding new things every day and are constantly challenging themselves" Spinda explained.

"You could do without the corny explanations you know…" Priscilla muttered under her breath.

Spinda pretended not to hear "It's natural to want to refresh yourself after a day of exploring and what better way than a hearty, delicious drink?"

"Yeah, I wouldn't mind a drink now" I nodded.

"Great! We are delighted to provide this service to all explorers and we trust it'll bring them happiness" Spinda continued "Today is our grand opening! Allow me to show you the premises"

Spinda led us over to the bar on the left first, which had a stockpile of fruits behind it. Many containers filled with juice lined the counter.

"This is the Juice Bar" Spinda said "You undoubtedly picked up a couple of Apples and Gummis in your journeys, no? Here, those edibles can become delicious drink sensations"

"Ooh, sounds pretty good!" Priscilla grinned at the idea.

"I, Spinda, will take your ingredient and use my incredible skills to create a delectable drink for you!" Spinda continued.

"So if I were to give you an apple right now… you could make me some apple juice?" I asked.

"That's right! That's exactly what I do!" Spinda replied cheerfully "While you're enjoying a nutritious drink, you can sit back and share exploration stories with all your friends!"

"Here's the next facility" Spinda led us over to the right side of the cafe, which had a Wynaut design with plenty of boxes and crates filled with random items.

"This is the centerpiece of this place, the Recycle Shop" Spinda explained "I'll bet you have a bunch of items in the storage that you picked up in explorations but have little use for, right?"

I rubbed the back of my head "Oh, tell me about it"

We frequently didn't have enough room in the storage for all our excess items, so we ended up selling them to Kecleon's Shop. Sure, we made a lot of money, but we didn't have the space to actually buy anything. Plus, some items apparently had no value at Kecleon's Shop, so we had to throw it out, which made me guilty over littering. We needed some way to dispose of our junk without polluting the environment.

"Sometimes you have to throw out items to make extra room…" Spinda tensed, then threw his hands into the air "Doesn't that seem wasteful?"

"There could be explorers out in dungeons who are in desperate need of the items you have locked in your storage!" Spinda made it seem like it was our fault, which I didn't think was a good way of introducing new customers "That's what we thought too. So we created this facility"

"You can bring in extra items here and trade them for items you want. How does that sound?" Spinda said "One Pokemon's trash is another's treasure, am I right?"

"I like the idea. I think we'll make frequent visits to this shop" Priscilla gave me a knowing smile.

"Great! So now you'll never have to throw away another item. You'll never have to say "What a waste!" ever again!" Spinda cheered "So if you have a collection of items you don't need, please stop my the Recycle Shop"

"Oh we'll do. I assure you" I replied dryly.

"One more thing" Spinda said "You can even get a bonus Prize Ticket when recycling items. It's a lot of fun"

"Good to hear"

"Now I know that was a whirlwind of a tour, but I think you get what's going on here" Spinda clapped his hands together "I hope to see you soon at Spinda's Cafe!"

"Thanks for the tour. We'll be back soon. I promise" Priscilla said politely and we departed the cafe to find Henry. Not too long after however, we ran into Chimecho.

"Oh hello Silvin and Priscilla!" Chimecho greeted cheerfully "Were you just at the cafe?"

"Yeah, we were. It looks great, doesn't it?" Priscilla nodded in response.

"Yes, I love it! But anyways, this is a perfect time to tell you this then" Chimecho smiled "In the past, when you wanted to take team members with you to explore, they waited for you at this watering hole…"

Me and Priscilla remained silent as Chimecho continued.

"But now that the cafe's open, everyone's been saying they would like to wait while relaxing in the cafe" The wind chime said "I completely understand that… I mean I understand how they feel"

"So… what you're saying is…"

"Do you want to meet up with your team members waiting in the cafe?"

"No, I think it's more convenient to have them waiting just outside the path out of Treasure Town" I decided "It'll get our team moving faster and people won't be draining our food supply for drinks"

"Seriously? That's the reason you say no?!" Chimecho fluttered in alarm "But that doesn't matter. Even if you select a "No", you'll eventually have to select the "Yes", so it always ends up the same anyways"

"What are you talking about Chimecho?" Priscilla asked, curious.

"Let me ask again" Chimecho said, as if nothing happened "Do you want to meet up with your team members waiting in the cafe?"

"If it'll stop you from speaking more fourth-wall breakers, then sure" I guess I had no choice in the saying.

"Perfect! I'll inform the others!" Chimecho grinned, fluttering happily in the wind "I'm sure everyone will be happy to hear that!"

I exchanged a glance of confusion with Priscilla.

"Oh, I almost forgot" Chimecho floated over to the watering hole, where a sign written in red was propped up "I placed a secret signpost here. Have you two noticed it?"

"Yeah, we saw it a couple times, but what does it do?" I asked, then cupped my hand under my chin "Also how did you put up this signpost? You don't have hands"

"I got Croagunk to help me of course" Chimecho replied "But that's beside the point. I can hear the bell on this sign all the way from the guild, so when you ring it, you can assemble your exploration team with Chimecho Assembly right here!"

"Sounds pretty convenient. Thanks Chimecho" I smiled at the wind chime Pokemon in gratitude.

"You're welcome, you two. Have a good day!" Chimecho went back into the guild, with us following her in shortly after. We collected our job rewards from Henry, deposited it in the storage, had dinner and prepared for bed. We said our goodbyes to Henry for the night and after a short conversation, fell to sleep, ready for the next day.


	7. Perfect Apple Woods

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After a mysterious depletion of the guild's food supply last night, Team Skylar is sent it's supply of Perfect Apples at Apple Woods. Little did they know, Team Skull hounds on their trail, hell-bent on disrupting Team Skylar at every turn...

"Everyone! I have an announcement before we get down to work!" Chatot called at morning briefing. The last few days had been relatively normal, us doing rescue jobs, capturing outlaws and doing sentry duty. But I never expected this.

"Let me introduce our new allies!" Chatot gestured to the ladder, waiting for the "new allies to appear". The guild stirred, talking in low voices.

"New allies? What, more new apprentices?" Loudred asked.

"Golly, I wonder what kind of Pokemon they are" Bidoof wondered aloud.

"Hey! Over here please!" Chatot called and a giant stink cloud of gas came towards us.

"Ugh! What stinks?!" Loudred shouted before doubling over to cough and wheeze.

"Eek! It reeks like rotten cheese! Eww!" Sunflora cried in distress.

"Yup, yup! That is some kind of foul stench!" Bidoof said, his eyes watering.

When the stench reached us, Priscilla could only gasp before doubling over, wheezing and coughing. I did my best to pull her away from the cloud as quick as possible. When the stink faded away and the "new allies" came down, I couldn't believe my eyes.

"No way. There's absolutely no way" I muttered before Priscilla stopped coughing and saw too. She clamped her hand over her mouth to not scream.

Team Skull were our new allies.

"These three are our new partners!" Chatot said, as if the stench didn't affect him or Wigglytuff at all.

"Whoa-ho-ho I'm Koffing" Koffing introduced himself.

"Heh-heh-heh Zubat here. Glad to meet you all" Zubat continued.

"And I'm Team Skull's leader, Skuntank. Remember that" Skuntank finished, then he turned to face us "Especially you two. Chaw-ha-ha"

"Grr… the nerve!" Priscilla's shook with fury, but I managed to calm her down. Strangely, she was still coughing despite Skuntank's stench having passed. Maybe it was just the leftover gas. Chatot looked between me and Skuntank, a look of confusion crossing his face.

"What, you're already acquainted? Oh, that simplifies things" Chatot smiled and I had to try and hold back Priscilla from tearing Chatot to feathers with Quick Attack. Chatot turned back to the guild, ignoring the Eevee's deathly glare.

"These three aren't joining us as apprentices" Chatot explained "They'll be joining us on our expedition to provide assistance"

"WHAT?!" Priscilla cried out, but I clamped my hand over her mouth in time. The Eevee squirmed, but eventually gave in and stopped struggling because everyone else was watching her.

"Why are you so shocked?" Chatot asked.

"Chatot sir, it's nothing. That one always overreacts to every little thing" Skuntank explained, with an edge of snarkiness aimed at us. I could almost feel Priscilla's rage bubbling inside her.

"Hm, very well then" Chatot was completely oblivious "Anyway, the guildmaster has made his decision. He has decided that having this trio take part will make us stronger on the expedition"

"However, it would be impossible to coordinate teamwork if we were to begin working together right away" Chatot continued "Therefore, we decided that the trio would live with us for a few days. Though it's only a few days, I ask everyone to treat our guests with hospitality"

Dead silence for ten whole seconds.

"Doesn't Chatot find something stinks about this? Literally?" Loudred thought aloud.

"Eww… how could the Guildmaster stand this?" Sunflora whispered to Bidoof.

"I sure hope this expedition ends soon! Yup yup!" Bidoof replied.

"Alright everyone! Let's get down to work!" Chatot called.

"... Hooray" Everyone's voices were muted.

"What's this? Where's your usual spirit?" Chatot asked.

"You gotta be KIDDING!" Loudred yelled "This STINKS! How can you expect us to be cheerful when…"

Loudred was cut off when the guild suddenly started shaking, as if an earthquake was starting.

"W-WHAT?!" Loudred shouted in confusion.

"YOOOOMMMM…" Wigglytuff was behind Chatot, bracing himself. Chatot fluttered in alarm as the earthquake grew stronger.

"No! The Guildmaster's rage is building!" Chatot cried "If the Guildmaster gets angry, it'll be horrific! Everyone come on! Be cheerful, even if it hurts!"

"All right everyone! Let's get down to work!" Chatot shouted in a quivering voice as cracks began forming on the walls and explosions literally erupted out of nowhere.

"HOORAY!" Everyone shouted in fear, then ran to their stations as quick as they could. The earthquake stopped and Wigglytuff returned to normal, going into his chambers as usual. I stared at Priscilla in bewilderment. Neither of us could find the words to describe what went on.

"Chaw-ha-ha nice to have met you" Skuntank told Chatot "Come on you two, we're leaving"

"Whoa-ho-ho"

"Heh-heh-heh"

And Team Skull left, not even fazed by Wigglytuff's near apocalyptic outburst.

"Let's… let's go find a job to do…" Priscilla said, still in shock from Wigglytuff's display. We went to the notice boards to find a job, grabbing two rescue missions at Drenched Bluff. We grabbed Henry, went to Drenched Bluff, rescued the Pokemon, came back and got the rewards just in time for dinner. Priscilla was very uncomfortable sitting next to Skuntank, so she decided to go to our room early and munch on apples and berries for her dinner.

"The stuff in our treasure bags and the food Chimecho cooks are practically the same" I muttered under my breath as I popped a Sitrus Berry into my mouth, wary of Team Skull watching me with smirks "Wonder if I could sneak a few berries back"

Fortunately, everyone was too distracted by their food to notice me sneaking out of the mess hall. I made my way back to me and Priscilla's room and found her, coughing again.

"You've been coughing ever since Skuntank unleashed that cloud of gas" I noted as I sat next to her, helping her ease her condition "Is something wrong?"

"I don't know. Maybe the gas got into my lungs or something…" Priscilla said as she wheezed and coughed again.

"You shouldn't be coughing this much, especially since so much time passed since Skuntank's stench" I said, patting the Eevee's back "I got blasted full in the face with it and haven't coughed since then"

"You think it's an illness?"

"An allergy most likely"

"Great" Priscilla grumbled "Not only did Team Skull join our expedition, but they also attacked you and gave me an illness. Those vile…"

"Just rest for now and you should be fine in the morning" I said gently, easing Priscilla into her bed "Do you want me to go out and buy some cough medicine for you?"

"I think I'll need it. Thank you Silvin" Priscilla nodded "You're very sweet"

"Be back in a sec" I left the guild and headed towards Treasure Town. Luckily, Treasure Town's night market was just as lively as its day one. An apothecary named Bellossom recently moved to town and set up a medicine shop next to Xatu's Appraisal. I stopped by and bought a general cough medicine for Priscilla. While walking back, I thought back to a week ago, when Skuntank attacked me and covered me in a cloud of gas. I had to go wash up and later found out that Priscilla's parents died.

To disease.

I wondered if her coughing fits now was the disease that took down her parents, but I let the thought pass. She was simply coughing due to inhaling Skuntank's gas, nothing else. I came back to the guild, stole a glass from the kitchen and came back to our room with a mug of water and the medicine. Priscilla was already asleep by the time I arrived.

"Sweet dreams, sleeping beauty" I smiled as I set down the two items next to her bed and climbed onto my own, falling asleep within seconds. Though the night was old, not everyone was asleep.

"We had dinner not too long ago, but I'm still hungry" Zubat said "I could go for some more food"

"My belly will never get full from grub like that" Koffing added.

"All right, the guild members have all gone off to bed" Skuntank surveyed the empty guild grounds, darkness all around him "Let's go find it out"

"Huh? Find what?" Zubat asked.

"What else? The guild's food stock" Skuntank replied "We'll find their food and give ourselves a proper feast"

"I like that thinking Chief!" Koffing grinned.

"Okay, let's get to it!" Zubat urged.

…

"UP AND AT EM, IT'S MORNING!" Loudred did his usual alarm clock routine, waking everyone up from their slumber. We did our usual morning cheer and dispersed, before Chatot beckoned us to come to him.

"You two, you have a different task today" Chatot said "You're supposed to obtain stock to replenish the larder"

"Replenish the larder? You mean the food stock's empty?" Priscilla asked.

"Correct. We inspected the larder this morning" Chatot explained "And it just so happens that last night, someone pilfered nearly all our food"

"Shouldn't we be investigating who ate all that food instead of getting more for him to steal?" I pointed out.

"We're working on that right now. You two are just going to refill the larder for tonight's dinner" Chatot replied "For whatever strange reason, our entire stash of Perfect Apples are gone. They were the only item to get completely cleaned out"

"Perfect Apple? Like the apple Wigglytuff bounces on his head at dinner and doesn't bother to eat?" Priscilla asked.

"Precisely, although I must tell you that Guildmaster Wigglytuff DOES eat his Perfect Apples…" Chatot explained "The point is that Perfect Apples are the Guildmaster's favorite food. If he doesn't have one at dinner he'll…"

Chatot went silent and gulped.

"Go on. If there were no Perfect Apples, what would happen to Wigglytuff?" I asked.

"The Guildmaster would….." Chatot held his silence for three seconds "Yes, that's what would happen"

I glanced at Priscilla in confusion "You never said anything would happen"

"That's why I'm begging you to find some Perfect Apples for us" Chatot ignored me completely "You can find them deep in Apple Woods. Go on, time is not for wasting!"

As me and Priscilla left the guild, Team Skull has been spying on us from the sidelines.

"Whoa-ho-ho so those two are going off to forage for food" Koffing said.

"That's because we feasted last night. A thankless task thanks to us, chaw-ha-ha" Skuntank cackled.

"Heh-heh-heh let's mess with them" Zubat grinned darkly and the three left the guild towards Apple Woods.

We arrived at Apple Woods shortly after, with Henry at our side as usual.

"This must be Apple Woods" Priscilla noted, judging by all the apples littering the group and trees around us "Chatot said we needed to go into the deepest part of the dungeon to find Perfect Apples"

"That's why I emptied my treasure bag" I said "So we could bring back as many Perfect Apples as we can"

"Then let's hurry then. Whatever happens to Wigglytuff without Perfect Apples…" Priscilla shuddered "It was enough to scare Chatot into silence. So let's not waste any time"

"Last time I remember, this place is full of Grass and Bug type Pokemon" Henry pointed out "So just rely on me to take out the enemy Pokemon!"

"Thanks Henry. Now, let's go!" We charged into the forest, not even noticing Team Skull right behind us.

"Whoa-ho-ho looks like they're off and running" Koffing said.

"Heh-heh-heh we'll go after them. Come on" Zubat urged and the trio entered the mystery dungeon.

Apple Woods was just as Henry said it to be. Apples were everywhere, regular and big and all the enemy Pokemon in the area were either Grass or Bug type. Henry made short work of them with his Wing Attack. Occasionally, we ran into an Exeggutor who dealt heavy damage to me with his Confusion, but Henry and Priscilla covered me whenever we saw one. The Butterfree and Gloom were issues for me as well, since they either knew Psychic attacks like Butterfree or resisted my powerful Force Palm like Paras. I had to switch to Quick Attack and Bite whenever those two popped up. The forest was long and had many floors. We had to take rest breaks every once in a while and drink Max Elixirs because we ran out of PP on our moves.

"Gods above, how many floors are in these woods?" I asked out loud while downing another Max Elixir "We've been traversing this place for hours"

"It's just a gut feeling, but we're close" Priscilla glanced around the room we were in before eating an Oran Berry to heal a wound she took from an Exeggutor's Seed Bomb.

"Yep, we're close!" Henry chirped "I come here all the time to hunt Bug Pokemon or apples. The dungeon here is about… 12 floors"

"12 floors. Has anybody been counting?" I took my last bite out of an apple before throwing the core onto the ground "Because I haven't"

"If I remember correctly, we're on floor nine" Priscilla said, preparing to go to the left hallway "I think that was long enough of a break. Let's hurry along"

"Yeah, I heard once that if you spend too much time in a mystery dungeon, some mysterious force kicks you out" Henry said "Nobody knows what it is, but it's indicated by a strong wind rushing by your body"

"Hmm… that's something to study later" Priscilla noted "But now's not the time. Let's go!"

We continued onwards, picking up items and apples along with taking down enemy Pokemon. When we stopped again for a break, Priscilla pulled an apple from her treasure bag and began to eat.

"I'm willing to bet 50 Poke that one of these apples are poisoned" I said, brushing the dirt ground with my foot "There's gotta be at least ONE apple that a Beedrill stuck it's needle into"

"I think we'll know judging by a hole Silvin" Priscilla smirked as she continued munching on her apple before doubling over, dropping the apple and spluttering.

"What did I tell you…?" I dug a Pecha Berry from my bag in case this kind of things happen and handed it to Priscilla. The Eevee downed the Pecha Berry instantly, removing the purple spot forming over her throat.

"We should remember to check our food before eating it" Henry laughed "We can carry only so many healing berries after all"

"Next time, we'll only eat when it's necessary" I said firmly "Anyway, what floor are we on?"

"Floor 11. The next floor should lead to the end" Priscilla informed and we moved forward, eventually finding the staircase leading to the next floor. When we arrived, we found a clearing with a giant tree that used to be covered in large, attractive apples. Now a pile of apple cores sat the base of the tree, with the sound of rustling above.

"What… who ate all these apples…?" Priscilla wondered, awestruck.

"Chaw-ha-ha who do you think it was?" A familiar laugh and voice came from the top of the perfect apple tree.

"Who was- Skuntank!" Priscilla glared at the tree top "What are you doing here sabotaging our job?!"

"Oh good for you. You found me out chaw-ha-ha" Skuntank, Zubat and Koffing appeared on top of the tree and jumped down, shaking the ground in front of us "Team Skull, at your service"

"Silvin, you mind explaining who the heck these guys are? Because I can literally feel Priscilla's rage from here" Henry said.

"Later Henry. What do you three want?" I was irritated that Team Skull somehow got here faster than we did, but also stole all of our loot.

"Heh-heh. Hey, it's wimpy and company. What took you so long?" Zubat taunted.

"You little…" Priscilla rushed with blinding speed, smashing Zubat to the ground with Quick Attack.

"Priscilla! Calm down!" I pulled the Eevee back "At least let Team Skull speak for themselves"

"Oh that was rude! We were just about to help you get some Perfect Apples, but you went and attacked our comrade!" Skuntank faked tears "What did we do to you?"

"Enough lying Skuntank. What are you actually here for?" I demanded.

"Well, we've been waiting for you to show up, but since you took so long, we've been having a feast on Perfect Apples!" Koffing floated towards the pile of apple cores next to the tree "You took so long that I'm afraid we ate all of them. Sorry!"

"Don't think that I'm blind, you fool. I can still see a couple apples on the tree" Priscilla snarled "Come on Silvin, Henry. Let's knock these rogues out and snag the last apples for ourselves!"

"Knock us out? How rude!" Skuntank arched his eyebrows "You attacked Zubat and now you're threatening us! I SAID we were going to help you!"

"Yeah and I'm the Guildmaster" I replied sarcastically "No more stalling. I'm going to pay you back to stink-clouding me!"

"Chaw-ha-ha looks like we have no choice then" Skuntank laughed "Prepare yourself. In recognition of your courage, we'll be honored to take you on fair and square. Chaw-ha-ha!"

"Even I can tell he's lying through the thin of his teeth" Henry noted, beginning to take flight "Let's be careful while we fight"

"Oh no, no need to be careful" Skuntank and Koffing got in front of us while pushing aside Zubat "Because this fight will end in just a second"

"Big talk!"

"Get ready then. Me and Koffing… will unleash our noxious gas combo!" Skuntank and Koffing both expelled Poison Gas onto us, blinding us with two different types of poison. It was so strong that I fainted from taking a single breath from it. I felt my limbs turn to jelly, then fell face first onto the ground, the world around me fading away.

"Silvin? Priscilla? SILVIN?! PRISCILLA?!" Henry screeched and we stirred, groggily getting up from the ground. Henry explained that he avoided the gas combo, but knew he was too weak to take on Team Skull by himself, so he kept out of sight.

"I'm sorry I couldn't stop them" The Starly apologized "If only I could of snatched at least ONE Perfect Apple from them…"

"Wait… what did they do?!" Priscilla cried.

"Team Skull shook the last of the apples out of the tree and went back to Treasure Town" Henry confirmed "What they are going to do with the apples, I don't really know…"

Priscilla stamped her paw against the dirt "Damn it! Now we have to return to the guild empty handed…"

"Our mission was to "replenish the larder" right?" I pointed out "So while we couldn't get any Perfect Apples, we can at least feed the guild tonight"

"Uhm, about that…" Henry looked uneasy "While you were out, Team Skull looted your treasure bag too"

"Huh?!" Both of us panicked and checked our treasure bags, finding both to be completely empty.

"Those thieves! They… they stole all our apples!" Priscilla slammed the ground with her foot in rage "I swear the next time I see them I'll…"

"Relax. We found your apples" A new voice came from the dungeon and out from it came a Gallade and a Mismagius, both of them carrying a large amount of apples. The Mismagius was levitating them with psychic power.

"We found these at the end of the mystery dungeon" The Gallade said as he gently piled the apples in front of us. The Mismagius dispelled her psychic hold and her apples joined the pile.

"Wait, you found them?" I asked "So that means…"

"We saw a Skuntank, Zubat and Koffing trudging through a dungeon, muttering about getting tired from holding all those apples" The Gallade explained ""Drop them on the ground then! We taught those wimps a lesson already" the Skuntank said"

"Well, I'm glad we're not going home empty handed" Priscilla said as she began scooping the apples back into her treasure bag "Thank you both. Can I at least know your names?"

"Oh Zelot, you're terrible at introductions" The Mismagius laughed "If you help out a stranger, you have to tell them your name first!"

"Why didn't you do it Sara?" The Gallade yelped, then regained his composure "My apologies then. I'm Zelot, leader of Team Orion and this is Sara, my partner. You are?"

"I'm Silvin, a member of Team Skylar. This is Priscilla and Henry" I gestured to my two comrades beside me.

"Don't be so modest Silvin. You're the leader of Team Skylar, not simply a member" Priscilla reminded me.

"We never discussed it, so I never knew who the leader was" I shrugged "I call myself a member just in case"

"Anyways, thank you for gathering our apples" Priscilla smiled at Zelot and Sara "I'd love to stay and chat, but we have to head back to Wigglytuff's Guild quickly!"

"Wigglytuff's Guild? Oh! That's where we're heading!" Zelot perked up "We caught wind of an expedition coming soon, so me and Sara wanted to come and "reinforce" the guild so to speak"

"Really? Then is it okay if we lead you there?" Priscilla asked "I mean, you want to go there and we're just about to head back…"

"That'll be brilliant. Thank you, sweetie" Sara grinned "Now then, let's hurry along. Can't keep the guild waiting!"

And so, we gathered up all our stolen apples and left Apple Woods, woefully upset that Team Skull nabbed out loot. If Chatot was terrified of Wigglytuff, I could only imagine what would happen when we told the Guildmaster we didn't bring back any Perfect Apples. We left Zelot, Sara and Henry outside while we entered the guild to talk with Chatot. After we explained what happened, Chatot fluttered in shock.

"What?! You failed?!" Chatot flapped his wings frantically in alarm "Are you serious?! Oh no, what am I going to do?!"

Chatot dashed side to side in panic before crying "Seriously, what am I to do?!"

"It wasn't our fault Chatot! You see, Skuntank and his…" Priscilla began, but got quickly cut off.

"Quiet! I don't want any excuses!" Chatot hissed.

"What?! But it's the truth!" I protested.

"You leave me no choice then" Chatot completely ignored me "To punish you for your failure, you'll go with no dinner for tonight!"

"That's fine. I'd rather not eat next to Skuntank anyway-"

"Priscilla, be quiet please"

"Hmph, fine then!" Chatot stomped his foot on the ground "If I'm going to have to face the Guildmaster's wrath, you'll have to too!

"Oh boy…" Me and Priscilla both groaned while Chatot hurried towards the second floor ladder.

"Hurry up and move it!" Chatot urged.

When we arrived at the guildmaster's chambers, Wigglytuff's back was turned to us as usual.

"Guildmaster Wigglytuff, I've come to deliver a report alongside Team Skylar" Chatot informed. Upon hearing that, Wigglytuff turned to us suddenly, with a silly grin on his face.

"Hiya! You brought me some Perfect Apples didn't you?" Wigglytuff got a excited light in his eyes "Thank you!"

"Uh… there's uh… a slight problem… Guildmaster…" I've never seen Chatot this unnerved before. It's as if the very presence of Wigglytuff scared Chatot to the point of stuttering.

"Huh? What's wrong?" Wigglytuff asked.

"You see uh… truth be told…" Chatot bit his tongue "These apprentices… well they failed their mission to bring back Perfect Apples so…"

"Uhm… to put it in another way, we-"

"It's okay. I understand" Wigglytuff said easily, invoking a gasp from Priscilla "It's all right. Nobody wins all the time! Don't feel blue, don't feel blue!"

Wigglytuff turned to Chatot "Where are the other Perfect Apples?"

"As I explained… they failed to get them… so…" Chatot bristled "In other words… the amount of Perfect Apples we have are… zero"

Someone may as well have dropped a pin in the room because everyone fell silent. Wigglytuff's smile faded.

"...Oh"

"Therefore, not even a single apple was obtained so…" Chatot braced himself "You'll have to go without Perfect Apples for a little bit"

Suddenly Chatot began laughing, almost hysterically "Yep, that's what it means! Hee! Hee! Hee-hee! Hee-hee!"

Nobody laughed along with Chatot, including Wigglytuff. The Guildmaster just stared at Chatot. Those giant blue eyes may as well be staring into Chatot's soul.

"Um, Guildmaster? Guildmaster?" Chatot asked, almost panic-like.

"Uh oh…" Me and Priscilla took a step back.

Wigglytuff turned to us and sniffled a little, even beginning to sob.

"What is he, crying?" Priscilla backed away quickly as Wigglytuff began shaking, tears forming on his eyes.

"Waahhh! No!" Chatot cried.

"Urrrffffff….. Urrrrrrrr" The entire guild began shaking, just like the earthquake Wigglytuff caused before.

"Waaaa…. Waaaahhhh" The earthquake became stronger as Wigglytuff's emotions grew stronger.

"Cover your ears!" Chatot shouted.

"W-why?!" Priscilla shouted back.

"Don't argue! Do it now!" Chatot screamed and covered his ears with his wings. I did the same with my hands and so did Priscilla.

"WAAAAAHHHH!" Wigglytuff collapsed into hysterics, explosions appearing out of nowhere and windows cracking along with the entire building. If this kept going, Wigglytuff would bury everyone alive!

"BWWEEEEEHHHHH!" The windows in the chamber shattered, letting everyone in Treasure Town hear the infernal noise. Small rocks began falling onto our heads from the ceiling. Not too long after, bigger rocks would smash us flat! But everything was stopped by the most unlikely adversary.

"Sorry to disturb you! We came to deliver a Perfect Apple!" Skuntank scrolled in, carrying a Perfect Apple. Ignoring our gasps of shock and Priscilla's snarl of anger, Skuntank dropped the Perfect Apple at Wigglytuff's feet, who eyed it confusingly.

"Here you go. A genuine Perfect Apple" Skuntank said "Please accept it as a token of friendship"

"Oh wow! You went out and got this just for me?" Wigglytuff acted like nothing happened literal seconds ago and propped the Perfect Apple on his head and began to dance.

"Yay, thank you, thank you! Friends, friends!" Wigglytuff said. Chatot hopped over to Skuntank, a look of utter relief on his face.

"Th-thank you so very, very kindly!" Chatot said "Thanks to you, we've been spared a catastrophe!"

"Hey! You two!" Chatot's sharp tone caught me off guard "Stop dozing and show some appreciation and respect!"

"What?! But they-"

Chatot hissed in her direction.

"Thank you Skuntank"

"Chaw-ha-ha. No, no, there's no need. After all, your guild has been very generous and hospitable to us" Skuntank smirked in our direction "It's only right that we try and repay the favor in our own way"

"Ah! I can see that you're the most admirable of Pokemon!" Chatot grinned "To be able to embark on an expedition with people as noble as you… it'll be truly inspiring!"

"Chaw-ha-ha. No, no, YOU'll be the one who will inspire us!" Skuntank replied "Truly, we look forward to the expedition. It's time for dinner now, so I shall be off to the mess hall"

"Thank you so very much and have a good meal!" Chatot called as Skuntank left.

"Now you two, off to bed!" Chatot commanded "You don't even get to be in the very SIGHT of food tonight!"

"Yes sir…" Me and Priscilla skulked out of the guildmaster chambers to head back outside and allow Zelot and Sara in. Once they were in and talking to Chatot, me and Priscilla retreated to our bedroom.

Priscilla sighed "Skuntank's team just shows us up again and again and again"

"Don't have the energy to be angry?" I raised an eyebrow "You seem to get REALLY upset whenever they show up"

"Yeah I suppose I am" Priscilla rested her head onto the nest of hay "Tired I mean. And frustrated"

"One day, we'll get back at them" I vowed "But for now, let's just serve ourselves dinner"

"I'm surprised Chatot didn't notice our treasure bags are still full of apples" Priscilla broke open her bag and pulled an apple out "He didn't ask us to fill up the larder"

"I guess he had other guild members do it" I shrugged "Oh well, more food for us"

We ate until we were sufficiently full, then packed up for the night. Wishing each other goodnight, both of us fell into a deep slumber.

"But Chief… why did you bother to help out that chicken?" Zubat asked under the cover of the nighttime darkness "Like giving away that Perfect Apple right then. We should of sat back and seen what would happen to them! It would be hilarious!"

"Yeah, my thoughts exactly" Koffing agreed.

"Chaw-ha-ha you're not thinking strategically you two" Skuntank replied "Why did we come here in the first place?"

"To join the expedition" Zubat said.

"Exactly. And if we're to nab the treasure from this expedition, we have to win their trust first. Wigglytuff's trust in particular" Skuntank's mouth twisted into a dark smile.

"I see what you're getting at" Koffing said.

"This being a famous guild and all, I was playing it safe at first, but this is ridiculously easy" Skuntank cackled "Wigglytuff's nothing more than a big baby. Why everyone's so terrified of him? I'll never know"

"What do we do if we find the expedition's treasure?" Zubat asked.

"We knock out the guild's crew of course" Koffing answered for him.

"Oh I see. We'll snatch the treasure, then ske-daddle out! We'll be gone before they even realize it!" Zubat laughed.

"Quiet you! You're making too much noise" Skuntank hissed.

"Oh. S-sorry Chief…"

Author's Note: Zelot and Sara are OC characters. We'll get to know more about them later


	8. Tying Up Ribbons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the guild's expedition draws near, so does the announcement for the expedition party. Team Skylar continues to work hard and prosper in the guild's name, but just how heavy was the Apple Woods failure to their performance?

"Ahem, one last thing" Chatot said at morning briefing "Tomorrow, the day after or even in several days time… We plan to announce the candidates for the expedition party"

"Wow!" Chimecho's smile widened. Everyone got excited at the prospect of the expedition party being chosen.

"By golly! The members are finally going to be picked!" Bidoof said excitingly.

"Oh my gosh! It'll be so fun!" Sunflora cheered.

"Everyone, this is your last chance to make an impression!" Chatot announced "Work hard and impress us if you want to be chosen!"

"WAIT! Hold on a second!" Loudred suddenly shouted from the back of the group "I don't know if anyone asked yet, but WHO are those two?!"

Loudred pointed to Zelot and Sara, who were standing beside Team Skull.

"Ah, I forgot to introduce them. This is Zelot and Sara, a bounty hunter team named Team Orion. They'll be reinforcing us on the expedition just like how Team Skull is" Chatot explained "Does that clear it up?"

"Oh. Couldn't even give us time to make our own intros" Zelot smiled thinly.

"Forgive me, but work is more frantic than ever these last few days" Chatot said "More Pokemon are visiting the guild and there's been a spike of rescue jobs and outlaws. I'm afraid time isn't favoring us"

"Ah ha ha! I understand completely" Sara laughed easily "Anyhow, I'm glad to meet you all and hope to be an asset on the expedition"

"The same for me" Zelot agreed.

"Alright everyone, let's get to work as usual!" Chatot called.

"HOORAY!"

Before me and Priscilla could head to the first floor, Chatot beckoned us over to him.

"Your task today is as usual: find Pokemon to rescue or outlaws to capture" Chatot instructed "One thing though about the expedition…"

"... What is it?" Priscilla asked uneasily.

"You should give up on being chosen as expedition members" Chatot dropped the news like a rock. Me and Priscilla took a step back in shock.

"W-what?! Why?!"

"Your failure yesterday weighed heavily on your overall performance" Chatot explained "As you know, it's difficult to tell what the Guildmaster's thinking based on his… demeanor. But there's no doubt that he must be seething with anger inside"

"Seething with anger… because of us?" Priscilla stamped her paw down "He got his Perfect Apple! He should be happy!"

"I can't speak for the Guildmaster's mind and neither can you" Chatot countered firmly "Anyhow, it's highly unlikely he'll consider you for the expedition after that incident"

"So… what? Do we just lay down and accept that we won't be chosen?" I asked, words as hard as steel.

"All I'm telling you is that when it's time to announce the expedition members, don't get your hopes up" Chatot said "That is all. Now, if you excuse me…"

Chatot left to go to the first floor. We were about to follow him when we heard someone whisper nearby.

"Psst! Listen up!" we heard Bidoof's voice from the other side of the room and found him alongside Chimecho and Sunflora.

"Huh? What are you three doing here?" I asked.

"Shh! Not so loud!" Sunflora chided "Follow us for a second"

The three of them rushed into the guild's bedrooms, as if being chased by something. We followed them in and found them in our bedroom, waiting for us.

"Whew, nobody saw us except for maybe Croagunk" Bidoof sighed in relief.

"What's going on? Why did you call us back to our room?" Priscilla asked.

"Well… here you go" Sunflora dug out two Big Apples from her treasure bag and placed them in front of us "We noticed that you weren't at dinner last time, so we figured you were hungry"

"That's so sweet of you" Priscilla smiled wanly "But me and Silvin already ate"

"Huh?"

"We gathered a bunch of apples from Apple Woods yesterday" I explained "Chatot didn't seem to notice, so we just had dinner in our room"

"So you can take back your apples. We don't need them" Priscilla nudged the Big Apple Sunflora gave her back to the sunflower Pokemon.

"Oh I see then" Sunflora took back the apples "We were just worried you'll be tuckered out from yesterday"

"Everyone wants to work hard to be picked for the expedition" Bidoof said "And well, we figured you couldn't do it on an empty stomach yup, yup!"

"We're alright, thanks for checking up on us though" Priscilla smile dropped "But about the expedition… Chatot came to us this morning and said…"

"Said… what?" All three Pokemon asked in unison.

"He said we're probably not going to be chosen because we failed to get Wigglytuff a Perfect Apple" I explained "So… me and Priscilla aren't able to go"

"How could you say that? There's no telling what might happen! Yes sirree!" Bidoof pointed out.

"The members haven't even been picked yet" Sunflora piped up "You still have a chance!"

"Thanks for trying to cheer us up but…" Priscilla hesitated "Doesn't everybody want to go on the expedition? If we were chosen to go, someone else is going to have to be left behind. Would you be okay with that?"

"No, not really. I would be sad and all but…" Sunflora began "Not everyone can go and if you can't, cheer for the Pokemon who could!"

"Besides, everyone wants to go on an expedition with you two, Silvin and Priscilla" Bidoof encouraged "So even if the odds are against you, just keep working hard to do your best to be chosen yup, yup!"

"We were never thinking of giving up" I smirked "But thanks for the encouragement anyways"

"You're welcome! Good luck on your work today!" Chimecho laughed, ringing her bell for good luck. We found ourselves heading to the first floor, before Croagunk stopped us.

"Meh-heh-heh. You two over there" Croagunk called "Come here for a sec"

"Why does everyone here laugh so weirdly…?" I muttered to myself as we headed over to Croagunk's stand, which had a large bubbling cauldron behind him.

"What is it Croagunk?" Priscilla asked.

"Meh-heh-heh. What were you doing over there with Bidoof and the others? Looks pretty suspicious" Croagunk replied.

"It was nothing Croagunk. They just wanted to talk privately with us" Priscilla lied.

"Meh-heh-heh. Guess it's not my business" Croagunk shrugged "Anyway, that's not why I called you here meh-heh-heh. The waiting is over!"

"What wait?" I asked, tilting my head.

"It's about my shop" Croagunk replied, gesturing to the cauldron "Meh-heh-heh. The Croagunk Swap Shop is back in business!"

"Croagunk… Swap shop?"

"Meh-heh-heh. You heard it right" Croagunk said "I finished repairing my Swap Cauldron, which means I'm finally back in business again! Meh-heh-heh!"

"So… how does it work? The cauldron I mean" I asked.

"You put certain kinds of items inside the cauldron…" Croagunk turned to the dark stone pot "And those items get swapped for another item offered up by a Pokemon all around the world"

"So it's basically global trading, right?" Priscilla asked.

"Meh-heh-heh pretty much" Croagunk nodded "These items are referred as "exclusive items" which you can find in dungeons. These items give a certain species of Pokemon a boost in physical power, physical and special defense etc. You get the point"

"I see. How would we know if an item is an "exclusive item"?" I questioned.

"You'll know it when you see it. It's usually something that's part of or looks like a Pokemon" Croagunk explained "Like a tail or a collar of sorts"

"A… tail…?" I was almost nervous to ask why we could find Pokemon tails.

"Meh-heh-heh you'll never know what kind of item a Pokemon around the world would have" Croagunk continued "So frequent my shop if you have stuff to swap, alright?"

"We'll do. Thanks Croagunk" Priscilla nodded.

"Meh-heh-heh see you soon, you two" Croagunk replied.

We went to the first floor, took a couple jobs, then headed outside. Before we could leave however, we noticed a couple Pokemon around Spinda's Cafe.

"Huh, there seems to be something going on at the cafe" Priscilla noted as we walked down the steps towards the cafe entrance "Hey, is there something going on?"

"Yeah, there seems to be some big news for all explorers" A Mr. Mime replied.

"I wonder what kind of news it is" An Octillery continued "Hmm, now I'm really interested. I'm going to find out"

"Me too" The Mr. Mime followed Octillery down the stairs.

"Wonderful news, huh?" Priscilla turned to me "We should go check it out too Silvin"

We headed down the stairs and found a crowd of Pokemon in the center of the cafe. Spinda was in the far back in between the stands, as if preparing for an announcement.

"Wow, there's a lot of Pokemon here" I said as me and Priscilla moved further into the crowd to hear Spinda better.

"May I have everyone's attention please! First of all, I'd like to thank you all for taking time out of your busy schedules to come here!" Spinda announced, quieting everyone down "Today, I would like to give wonderful news of hopes and dreams!"

"And here I thought this guy couldn't get more corny" I muttered and Priscilla giggled beside me.

"Ahem" Spinda cleared his throat "Thanks to your kind patronage, this cafe has become quite popular. We've been fortunate to have such wonderful customers!"

"This shop's pride and joy, the Recycle Shop, is fully operational and has collected many items" Spinda continued "We would like to thank you for your kind patronage… by opening a new service!"

The crowd exploded into cheer.

"A new service? Ooh, I wonder what it could be!" One Pokemon said excitingly.

"I bet it's going to help explorers and Pokemon just as much as the Recycle Shop!" Another exclaimed.

"And this new service is called…" Spinda gestured to Wobbuffet, who drum-rolled on the wooden counter "Project P!"

The cheer turned to murmuring in the crowd.

"Project P? What could that be?" A Pokemon asked.

"Doesn't ring any bells" Another replied.

"The Project aims to use items recycled at the recycle shop to find unexplored locations!" Spinda declared "Allow me to explain"

Spinda turned and gestured to Wynaut to hand him a marker. Once he got it, Spinda began drawing on the wall. He drew a treasure chest with three arrows around it, like a triangle.

"Right now at the Recycle Shop, you can trade several items in exchange for one of the shop's items…" Spinda explained as he drew a white cloud with a treasure chest and several Oran Berries nearby "... Thanks to everyone's continued efforts, we have gathered a lot of items here at the shop"

"The service will continue to operate in the same manner…" Spinda finished the drawing and moved to the other side "And now with Project P established, we'll use the accumulated items to explore unexplored areas!"

Spinda drew an arrow next to the first picture, then quickly drew a simple temple or tower with bushes around it.

"There are still so many unexplored places all around the world!" Spinda continued "So many secret treasures and challenging puzzles waiting to be discovered... "

Spinda turned back to us "So let's go out and find them! That's what Project P is all about!"

Spinda turned to the wall again and drew a third arrow, leading up to form a triangle. He drew a large treasure chest with golden coins spilling out of it "Ah, the pursuit of knowledge and continued exploration… will allow us to find treasure and new areas to explore!"

Spinda turned to us again "And finally, if you bring back your discovery to the cafe, you'll get a special deal at the Recycle Shop!"

Spinda turned and drew the final arrow, connecting the treasure chest back to first picture "This will keep the items in the Recycle Shop circulating and allow the shop to feature more and more amazing items!"

Spinda handed the marker to Wobbuffet "Use the recycled items to explore the world! Don't you think it's a magnificent project, filled with hopes and dreams?!"

"If he didn't add the "hopes and dreams" part at the end, I might of taken it more seriously" I murmured under my breath.

"Whoa! This is genius!" One Pokemon exclaimed.

"It seems so economical!" A Pachirisu hopped up and down in excitement.

"We've already sent out exploration teams to find unexplored areas!" Spinda announced "There should be new discoveries before long!"

Spinda gestured to the Recycle Shop beside him "So everyone! Please keep recycling, more and more every day! Let's all work together to find unexplored areas!"

The crowd exploded into cheer, applauding Spinda not only for his performance, but brilliant idea. Priscilla turned to me, beaming.

"Isn't this great Silvin? The more we recycle, the more we help explorers all around the world finding new mystery dungeons!" The Eevee grinned "We should recycle more sometime!"

"After we're finished our jobs for today, let's organize our inventory" I said "Then we can figure out what to recycle"

"Sounds like a plan!" Priscilla smiled "Let's get going"

And so we departed, did our rescue and outlaw capture jobs, then came back and organized our inventory via Kangaskhan Storage. We ended up recycling two dozen apples, a handful of Oran Berries, a couple scarves and other attire. In return, we got a silver ticket, which we redeemed immediately and ended up getting a Gold Ribbon.

"The Gold Ribbon is quite rare and fetches a lot of Poke" Priscilla said when we were back in our room "We could sell it if we need the extra cash"

"What's stopping people from wearing it?" I asked.

"Well… nothing. Just robbers I guess"

"Then I think it'll look good on you"

"Huh? M-me?"

I shamelessly tied the Gold Ribbon around Priscilla's neck before stepping back to admire it "You were right when you said it was rare. It looks to be sparkling with actual gold!"

"But do I… do I look okay in it?" The Eevee asked, blushing.

"Simple, yet breathtaking as always" I smiled and Priscilla's face went redder "Goodnight Priscilla"

"G-goodnight Silvin" the Eevee stammered before resting her head onto the hay bed, back turned to me. Probably to hide her blush.

"The longer I stay here, the less I want to turn human again" I thought as I closed my eyes "Everyone's so nice here… and I have power like I've never had before as a human…"

Before I could continue, I dozed off, snoring lightly in my sleep.

The next morning, something big happened.

"Ahem. Now then…" Chatot began "I shall announce the expedition team members"

"Whew, it's finally settled! I've been waiting for ages yup, yup" Bidoof said.

"Yippee! He's finally choosing!" Sunflora cheered "Ooh, I could faint from excitement already!"

"Guildmaster, the memo please" Chatot requested.

Wigglytuff handed Chatot a sheet of paper. 

"The chosen members are written on this memo" Chatot held up the sheet "Step forward if you name is called"

"Ooh, it's finally happening" Sunflora was shaking, probably both in fear and excitement.

"My heart's a-pounding, by golly" Bidoof added.

"Without further ado, I will announce who has been chosen" Chatot called our attention back to him "Out first member… Loudred!"

"Y-yes! I DID IT!" Loudred came up front proudly "But if you think about it, it's only NATURAL that I get picked! WOO-HOO!"

"Says you…" Sunflora grumbled.

"Big talker, yup yup…" Bidoof murmured.

"Is he saying that he wasn't even nervous?" Chimecho whispered.

"Next up is… Corphish!" Chatot called.

"Hey, hey, hey! I got it!" Corphish grinned "I got picked! Hey, hey! What a relief…"

"Next up is… Oh this is interesting" Chatot looked at Bidoof "Well this is a surprise! Our next member is Bidoof!"

"Really? Really and truly?" Bidoof had a mixture of shock and happiness on his face "Golly… me?! I'm going on the expedition?!"

"Hm? Is anything the matter Bidoof?" Chatot asked as he noticed Bidoof shaking.

"Come on Bidoof. You got picked! Go up there proudly" I encouraged and Bidoof smiled warmly, joining Corphish and Loudred beside Wigglytuff.

"Next we have Sunflora and Chimecho!" Chatot called.

"Oh! Us too?" Chimecho rang her bell in alarm.

"Eek! Oh my gosh!" Sunflora bounced in joy.

"Erm, yes… and there we have the expedition team members!" Chatot declared.

Priscilla looked at me sadly "We didn't get picked…"

"I guess Wigglytuff really was "seething with anger" at us" I replied, shoulders slumped.

"Chaw-ha-ha looks like those losers are out" Skuntank smirked under his breath.

"Heh-heh-heh serves them right!" Zubat replied quietly.

"Whoa-ho-ho they had it coming" Koffing agreed.

"So that it's for the expedition team members… erm" Chatot looked over the memo again "Huh? What's this?"

"There's something scribbled on the margins of the memo" Chatot whispered to himself "The Guildmaster's handwriting is such a messy scrawl…"

"It's so hard to decipher…" Chatot continued, looking uneasy "Erk! If I said that aloud, the consequences wouldn't be pretty. Best keep an upper beak and swallow those words"

"Chatot? Is something the matter?" Priscilla asked.

"Erm… it appears that there are more expedition members" Chatot said, which got me and Priscilla's hopes up "The others are… Croagunk, Diglett and Dugtrio"

Chatot may as well have stabbed me in the heart with those words. Me and Priscilla were the only Pokemon left who weren't chosen for the expedition. Was Wigglytuff that mad at us?

"Oh and Priscilla and Silvin" Chatot read, then flapped in surprise "What?! That's… that's everyone in the guild!"

"Yup! That's right!" Wigglytuff replied cheerfully.

"Well then, it seems like the whole selection process was meaningless!" Chatot squawked "You've caused everyone unneeded stress! Moreover, if we were to all go, the guild will be left empty!"

"It'll be fine. We'll lock it up properly" Wigglytuff replied easily.

"Guildmaster, I also have some misgivings" Skuntank stepped up "Do you think we have perhaps too many members for an expedition?"

"Hmm… when a friend asks something like that, I have to wonder why…" Wigglytuff said dreamily.

"I mean, first of all, why does everyone have to go?" Skuntank argued "What's the point in having everyone participate?"

"There's strength in numbers you know" Zelot said, tapping his head "The more we bring, the stronger we are. That's the whole reason you brought us and Team Skull here, no?"

"Of course there's a point!" Wigglytuff said, ignoring Zelot "That is… if everyone went, it'll be more fun!"

"F-fun?!" Skuntank backed away in shock "This is a serious expedition I'll have you know!"

"We'll be noisy and excited and having fun!" Wigglytuff continued, not even listening to Skuntank "I started thinking about it and it made me so excited, I couldn't fall asleep!"

"What…?" Skuntank was in utter shock.

"So that's how it is everyone! We're all going on the expedition and it'll be fun, fun fun!" Wigglytuff cheered "Let's all do our best!"

"HOORAY!" Everyone cheered.

"Urgh, well that's settled" Chatot regained his calm persona "Fine, let me explain the schedule. Right after this, I'll hold a briefing on the expedition itself"

"As such the chosen members, A.K.A everyone..." Chatot continued "... should get prepared to embark on the expedition"

"Let me remind that you this is a guild-exclusive expedition" Chatot said "Therefore, recruited members of Chimecho Assembly cannot join us"

"Aw, poor Henry…" Priscilla whispered to me.

"When you are fully prepared for the upcoming journey, return here" Chatot instructed "And inform me of your readiness. That is all. Dismissed!"

Everyone dispersed, heading towards Treasure Town. Priscilla turned to me with a huge smile on her face.

"We got picked Silvin! We got picked!" the Eevee exclaimed, like a child who won their first sports match.

"Wigglytuff continues to surprise me, day after day" I said as Wigglytuff went back into his chambers, presumingly to prepare "Still, I'm glad we got picked. I know you were dying to have the chance to go"

"Eh heh, I just want to see the world past this region" Priscilla rubbed the back of her head, still grinning "Now I'm getting all giddy, just thinking about it!"

"Well, let's hurry on and prepare before everyone comes back" I urged "The more we prepare, the more fun this expedition will be instead of dangerous"

"I'm right behind you!"


	9. Eastward Adventurers

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guild's expedition has begun, with their destination being the elusive Fogbound Lake! The real life of an explorer finally unravels for Silvin and Priscilla, bringing along new challenges as well as new allies within Craggy Coast and the dangerous Mt Horn...

As we headed down the steps towards Treasure Town, a Pelipper flew down with something in his bill.

"The Exploration Team Federation sent you this" The Pelipper informed, dropping the thing in front of us. Before we could ask who the "Exploration Team Federation" was, the Pelipper already flew away to deliver more letters.

"This looks like… a bigger treasure bag" I said as I picked it up. I felt something inside and took a look. Inside was another treasure bag, which was the same size as the one Pelipper delivered me.

"Well, I could always use a bigger treasure bag" I swapped the bag slung over my shoulder with the new one and decided to give my old one to Henry. Priscilla took the new bag and sold her old one to Kecleon's Shop.

"Ah yes, I heard that you were chosen for the expedition?" The green Kecleon asked.

Priscilla nodded excitingly.

"Congratulations! I so do hope that you do well" The green Kecleon grinned "Now then, do you have anything you need to buy from us?"

We stocked up on apples, Oran Berries, Reviver Seeds, Geo Pebbles and utility seeds. We bought so much that our new treasure bags were already full by the time we were done shopping. Our wages went down quite a lot too.

"Did I just hear that you got chosen on the expedition?" Kangaskhan asked sweetly "Congratulations you two! I'm so proud!"

"Thank YOU as always Ms Kangaskhan" Priscilla replied "Thanks to your storage, we can keep items we may need in the future safe. Can we have access to our storage now?"

"Yes, yes of course" Kangaskhan used a key to open a storage box filled with a bunch of other keys, with black numbers on them "Here it is, 46. You know what to do"

"Thank you Ms Kangaskhan!" Me and Priscilla went into the storage room behind Kangaskhan Storage and withdrew some orbs, a couple scarves, bows and Max Elixirs while depositing a couple of our recently-purchased apples and berries to make space. Once our inventory management was finished, we went over to Duskull Bank to deposit our remaining Poke.

"Heh-heh-heh so the two of you were chosen for the expedition?" Duskull asked in his normal ominous tone "Surprising… yet I saw this coming"

"We're here to deposit our Poke" Priscilla handed Duskull a pouch full of Poke, who took it to a wall of safes in the back to store "We'll be back when we need it"

"Of course. Your money will be safe here… forever if need be" Duskull nodded "Safe travels, you two"

Once that was done, we felt ready to go. Before we headed back to the guild though, we visited Henry nearby Sharpedo Bluff.

"I really wish I could go with you guys, but rules are rules" Henry shrugged "I'll be here, roosting and waiting for your return"

"Will you miss us Henry?" I asked, jokingly.

"Well, duh! You're my friends. Friends miss other friends" The Starly replied.

"Don't worry Henry. We'll be back before too long" Priscilla comforted "Then, we can go back to our usual exploring"

"Sounds good. Have fun you two!" Henry waved his gray wing in goodbye "Stay safe!"

"Thanks Henry! We'll see you soon!" Both of us waved goodbye to our friend before returning to the guild to meet with Chatot.

"Oh? Are you all ready for the expedition?" Chatot asked.

"Yes, we're good to go!" Priscilla replied.

"The expedition will be a long journey. Are you sure you're prepared to leave?" Chatot pressed.

Priscilla turned to me "Is there anything else we need to do?"

I cupped my hand under my chin "We stocked our treasure bags full of food and items, have our entire storage stocked and our money safely stored away. I think we're good"

"Yes, we're ready then" Priscilla nodded.

"Did you dismiss all your non-guild members?"

"Yep!"

"Good. You appear to be in full readiness" Chatot smiled "Please wait for the other guild members to return, then I'll commence the briefing"

After a short while, everyone returned to the guild and Chatot began his briefing.

"All accounted for, it appears" Chatot noted, checking over everyone on the memo "Well then, let me explain the expedition. The objective it to reach Fogbound Lake"

"Fogbound Lake? Where's that?" Loudred asked.

"Let me continue" Chatot glared at Loudred for a short second before continuing "It's a lake said to be located in the far east, shrouded by fog as the name entails. Since it's covered in such dense fog, the lake's actual existence hasn't been confirmed"

"It is merely a foggy mirage of a spot that still lives to this day on rumor alone" Chatot continued "Rumor has it however… that a treasure of exquisite beauty lies there!"

"Ooh…" Everyone started getting excited at the prospect of treasure.

"Yep, it'll be fun, fun, fun!" Wigglytuff said, cheerful and innocent as usual.

"Everyone, open your Wonder Maps" Chatot ordered.

Each of us spread out our maps and Chatot laid down his own, pointing to a dense forest with fog clouds covering it southeast "First off… this is where Fogbound Lake is said to be"

"Uncharted territory is covered by a cloud cover and the map's imbued with magic to unveil itself whenever a new area is discovered" Sara noted as she inspected her own Wonder Map.

"How does that work?" I whispered to Priscilla.

"No idea" The Eevee replied.

"Our guild is here" Chatot pointed to Treasure Town which was northwest from Fogbound Lake "As you can see, the lake is a significant distance from the guild. Therefore, we'll encamp at the foot of the highlands here. It'll serve as our base camp"

Chatot pointed to the dense, fog covered forest down south again "If we were to travel all at once as a group, our mobility would be restricted. The strategy is to split up into several groups to travel to the base camp"

"I shall announce those groups now" Chatot continued, referring to his memo "The first group is Sunflora, Diglett, Croagunk and Loudred"

"You guys better NOT hold me back!" Loudred exclaimed.

"Same to you!" Sunflora countered.

"The next group is Dugtrio, Corphish and Chimecho" Chatot continued.

"We're a solid group" Dugtrio said.

"I promise to try my best" Chimecho chimed in.

"Hey, hey, likewise!" Corphish agreed.

"Erm… let's see…" Chatot turned to Wigglytuff "Me and the Guildmaster will travel as a pair. That is acceptable, yes?"

"Aww, I have to go with Chatot?" Wigglytuff slumped "That's so booorrinngg!"

"Please don't be difficult. This is a key element to our strategy" Chatot refuted.

"... Meanie"

"Our guests, Team Skull and Team Orion will travel on their own as well" Chatot said.

"Understood chaw-ha-ha" Skuntank smirked.

"I understand" Zelot nodded.

"And the final group is Silvin, Priscilla and Bidoof" Chatot concluded.

"We're in the same group! I hope I can keep up. Yup yup!" Bidoof said happily.

"Likewise Bidoof"

"Well then…" Chatot turned our attention back to him "Everyone, let's get to it and move out!"

"HOORAY!"

And thus, the expedition began. We made our way towards the base camp, eventually splitting off to different routes to get there faster. Me, Priscilla and Bidoof ended up taking the southern coastline overlooking the sea. We found ourselves up on a cliff side, with the vast ocean right next to us.

"Wow! The sea is right up this way Silvin!" Priscilla marveled at the sight. The sparkling water gleaming in the afternoon sunlight, the clear blue skies and the waves crashing against the rocks. Truly a breathtaking sight.

"Yup yup! I reckon this is looking more and more like a true expedition!" Bidoof commented "The path ahead surely will get tricky, just like real explorers like to see!"

Bidoof turned to the strange statue behind me "And this is something well known to all us explorers. It's a Kangaskhan Rock"

"A Kangaskhan Rock?"

"As far as I know, the Kagaskhan Rock is imbued with magic, so you can pull items out of your storage whenever you wish" Bidoof explained "Yup yup, it's truly a wonderful thing!"

"Although, I haven't actually USED Kangaskhan Rocks a whole lot, mind you…" Bidoof slumped "So I shouldn't be talking like a big shot"

"No, no, your info is sound enough. You know what you're talking about" Priscilla smiled "For your first expedition, I expected a little more nervousness, not more confidence!"

Bidoof blushed "By golly, I'm nervous alright! This expedition is big for me!"

"Ha ha. Same for us too" I laughed "We're all beginners at this. Let's just do our best and focus what's ahead of us. Right now, we need to reach the base camp"

"You're right" Priscilla peered into the cavern in front of us "Hmm, there's two paths here. Which one do we take?"

"There's a sign on each one" Bidoof noted "Let's see… one says "Craggy Coast" and the other "Side Path". By golly, what do we choose?"

"Why don't you choice Silvin? Craggy Coast or Side Path?" Priscilla asked.

"Craggy Coast sounds more official. Let's go there" I decided and Priscilla nodded.

"Craggy Coast it is. Come on, team!"

Craggy Coast, like Drenched Bluff and Waterfall Cave, was filled with Water type Pokemon. Spheal, Krabby and Wingull made up the bulk of the Pokemon encountered here. Dratini, Gastrodon and Sealeo were more rare. As for Bidoof, he was a rather strong combatant. His Headbutts were strong, able to send a Spheal flying to a wall. He could even curl into a ball with Rollout and knock down enemy Pokemon like bowling pins. Using Defense Curl seem to increase the power of Rollout too.

"Wow Bidoof, you're stronger than I thought you would be" I said as I Force Palm'ed a Dratini away "Your strength impresses me"

"Ah shucks, it's nothing compared to you two" Bidoof replied, embarrassed "From what it seems, you two are already professional explorers! I can't even remember to do Sunflora's tactic in fights…"

"Sunflora's tactic?"

"When me and Sunflora explored together once, she lured a enemy Pokemon in by using a regular attack instead of a move. That way, she doesn't waste PP" Bidoof explained "Sunflora is mighty smart, I'd tell you…"

"Hmm… guess I could do the same" An enemy Gastrodon was approaching us from a puddle, watching me closely. I lunged forward with a feint and Gastrodon fell for it, thinking it could get under my guard. However, right when it got close, I slammed my hand into it's face, expelling powerful energy with Force Palm and knocked Gastrodon to the ground.

"Welp, the tactic works" I shook my hand to dispel the leftover energy "I'll have to say thanks to Sunflora later"

We pressed onward, gathering items, taking down Pokemon and climbing floors in the coast. For a strange reason, Blue Gummis were plentiful here. I found at least three of them lying around. The coast contained other gummis too and in higher amounts than in other dungeons. I found a White Gummi and fed it to Priscilla before Bidoof could steal it (Gummis were THAT delicious apparently) and later, Priscilla picked up a Orange Gummi for me.

"Henry and Bidoof's mouths were watering from the very sight of gummis. Are they really that good?" I wondered aloud before popping it into my mouth. Needless to say, the taste warranted the lust. The Orange Gummi's taste was indescribable, but it was a perfect blend of sweetness and heavenly flavor. It had a flavor of orange in it along with a slight mint to it. It was chewy too, contrary to its appearance being a jelly bean. All my favorite things about food shrunken to a orange jelly bean.

"Well? Is it good?" Priscilla asked, smiling.

"I could think of five words to describe how good it tastes" I remarked "But I'll spare you guys of that. We should be nearing the end of the dungeon now"

On the ninth floor, we came out of Craggy Coast into open air. The sun was just about to set and nighttime upon us.

"Whew… By golly, I reckon we're finally through" Bidoof huffed.

"Yes, but we're still a long way from base camp" Priscilla said, opening the Wonder Map "We're here right now, Mt Horn. We don't have much land left to cover before reaching camp"

"Yes, I reckon we made good progress today" Bidoof said.

"We only need to cross Mt Horn and we'll reach the camp" Priscilla informed "But… nighttime is coming soon and we haven't ate or rested at all. Now would be a good time"

"Let's eat, then get some sleep" I suggested "Set up a watch so we can keep a close eye on each other"

"Good idea. Let's eat then"

"Yeeehaw!"

"I didn't know you were a cowboy Bidoof…"

And so, we ate our dinner on the mountainside. We didn't have Chimecho to cook for us, so we settled on Oran Berries and apples for our meal. Bidoof fell asleep shortly after, draping a baby blue blanket over himself.

"I'll take the first watch. I'll wake you up when I start feeling sleepy" I told Priscilla.

"But what if you get sleepy too early?" Priscilla pouted "I don't want to be woken up minutes after I dozed off!"

"I'll try to stay awake for as long as I can" I assured "Now time for you to get some rest"

"Goodnight Silvin"

"Goodnight Priscilla. Sweet dreams"

"I won't even HAVE dreams before you wake me up"

"Just sleep Priscilla"

While Priscilla and Bidoof slept, I was awake, gazing at the night sky in the torch light. The stars looked beautiful.

"I haven't had a lot of time to think ever since all of this happened" I murmured to myself "The guild's work and life as a Pokemon made me forget I was once human"

I set down the torch, resting my back against a rock "Who turned me into a Pokemon? What life did I have before this? Did I have any family or friends? Am I able to turn back?"

The last question was something I almost rather not know the answer to. I would love to be turned back to my original self, but I'll have to abandon all the friends I've made as a Pokemon. In particular, Priscilla. If I turned back to human, I just knew I wouldn't understand their language anymore. Everyone would be reduced to just saying their name to try and communicate with me.

As much as I wanted to turn back to human, I couldn't leave Priscilla's side and break all the friendships I've made.

"At least the other questions aren't as conflicting" I murmured as my eyelids began to droop "Maybe one day, I could meet someone of my past life. Who knows what they are doing now? Are they looking for me? Are they doing something in my stead?"

"I'm sure that… whoever's looking for you.. is very worried" Priscilla's voice startled me.

"Priscilla! You- you should be getting back to sleep" I kept my voice low as to not wake up Bidoof.

"No, no, it's my shift now. I can hear the tiredness in your voice" Priscilla replied, rising up to wipe her eyes and pull off her blanket "You should get some rest"

"Yeah thanks. When you start feeling sleepy again, wake up Bidoof for his shift" I said as I pulled a black blanket from my treasure bag and draped it over myself, using my treasure bag as a makeshift pillow.

"Sweet dreams Silvin" I felt Priscilla's paw stroking my ears gently before I dozed off.

The next morning, we were ready to set out again.

"Alright everyone, time to get moving" Priscilla said "Crossing Mt Horn will take us to the base camp"

"Let's get it done then!" Bidoof went over to the mountain entrance, then frowned "Golly, there's another split path here!"

"What are the options?" I asked.

"There's two signs. One says "Mt Horn" and the other "Rock Path"" Bidoof replied.

"Obviously Mt Horn is the right path to go. It's the name of the mountain" Priscilla pointed out "So Mt Horn it is"

We quickly did some inventory management via the Kangaskhan Rock, then went into Mt Horn. Mt Horn was a far cry from Craggy Coast. Like how Craggy Coast was like Drenched Bluff and Waterfall Cave, Mt Horn was like Mt Bristle. The dungeon contained a lot of Bug Pokemon like Ariados, Venomoth, Pineco and Parasect. The Venomoth in particular were hair-pulling levels of annoying. They had a move called Silver Wind which caused a breeze of white wind to sweep the room Venomoth was in, hitting me, Priscilla and Bidoof all at once. Even worse, they can hit us with it from across the room and to add salt to the wound, every once in a while, Venomoth's Silver Winds came out faster and stronger. I had to expend two Reviver Seeds on Priscilla and Bidoof to keep them alive. In the end, we decided to avoid the Venomoths altogether.

"It's like Mt Bristle again where we avoided the Starly" Priscilla remarked "Except Venomoth is much worse since they can strike us from an entire room away"

"And the Aerodactyl…" I shuddered "Those things are worse than a flock of Starly"

The rocky bird Pokemon took me out with a single Wing Attack. Luckily, Priscilla revived me with a Reviver Seed and I took it out with a Force Palm, but we were getting low on Revivers. Any sooner and we'll have an actual death on our hands.

"We should prioritize getting out of here at all costs" Priscilla said "We're low on Reviver Seeds and we can't risk death by the Venomoths or Aerodactyls any longer. Just avoid them and try not to get in their sight"

"I hear you" Bidoof slammed a Natu against a mountainside with Headbutt, then assumed a defensive stance with Defense Curl to shield against a Parasect's Slash.

"Ugh, please tell me we'll never come back to this place again" I muttered as I Quick Attack'ed a Natu, then Force Palm'ed a Bonsly "I feel like I'm being hunted by the Aerodactyls and Venomoths"

"We're nothing more than prey to them, so you aren't wrong" Priscilla replied as she evaded a Shrommish's Absorb, then countered with Tackle "We need to resolve these skirmishes quick. Before the Aerodactyl and Venomoth notice"

"I know I'm trying!" I gritted my teeth as I smacked away two Shroomish with Quick Attack "Ugh, forget it! Just run!"

We made a mad dash through the hallways, ignoring any little Pokemon that wasn't big enough to stand in our way. We eventually made it to floor 12, where we decided to take a break since we've been running full sprint since floor 9.

"Phew… never thought… I would… run this much… in my life…!" Bidoof panted as he caught his breath. He pulled an apple from his bag and chomped on it, consuming it in only two bites before spitting out the core. I was about to move before Priscilla pulled me back.

"I hear wings flapping… two of them" Priscilla said quietly. Then it dawned on me. There were two hallways in our room, one leading north and the other east.

"One's coming from the right and the other's coming from the north" Priscilla said "Which means…"

"Venomoth and Aerodactyl will surround us" I said bluntly "Can you tell which hallway has Aerodactyl and which has Venomoth?"

"All I can hear is flapping. I don't know which one sounds heavier and which one sounds lighter" Priscilla replied "But if I had to take a guess, then Venomoth's in the right hallway"

"Charge there then. Venomoth's easier to knock out than Aerodactyl" I said "Let's go!"

We charged down the right hallway. Before Venomoth could even react, I slammed into it with Quick Attack, knocking it to the floor. Bidoof bashed Venomoth's head with Headbutt, knocking it out cold. Arriving in the next room, we found the staircase.

"Nice! We found the stairs-" I was interrupted when an Aerodactyl suddenly swooped in and slashed me across the chest with Wing Attack, ripping my body open. I collapsed in a pool of my own blood.

"Silvin!" Priscilla searched frantically for a Reviver Seed while Bidoof held off the Aerodactyl. Aerodactyl summoned a rock out of thin air and threw it at Bidoof with Rock Throw. The brown rodent simply curled into a ball with Defense Curl and lessened the attack's power. Aerodactyl followed up with a strong Wing Attack, but Bidoof dodged and prepared to use Rollout. He curled tighter into a ball and rolled towards Aerodactyl, slamming into the rocky bird with powerful force. The enemy Pokemon crashed against the wall, out cold. Priscilla finally found a Reviver Seed in my bag and force fed me it, mending the large gash across my chest.

"Thank you" I struggled to stand up, but eventually mustered enough strength to make it up the stairs. We were lucky enough to appear in the room with the stairs leading up to the next floor, which took us to the entrance of a foggy forest. Several Wigglytuff-designed tents were set up around the area.

"Phew… we did it! We got over Mt Horn!" Bidoof exclaimed triumphantly "We finally made it! Yes siree! We've arrived at base camp!"

We came into the forest clearing to find everyone already here.

"Howdy, folks! Sorry to keep you waiting!" Bidoof announced.

"You all are late! Everyone already arrived here a long time ago!" Chatot squawked, irritated "Now that everyone's assembled, let's get on with our strategy briefing"

"Yes sirree!" Bidoof nodded and everyone headed further into the forest. I however, stayed back because of a strange nausea I was feeling.

"Hm? Something the matter Silvin?" Priscilla asked.

For some reason, this place felt incredibly familiar to me. I couldn't place it, but I absolutely knew that I've been here before. Did I come here before I lost my memories? Before I could ponder further, Chatot flapped his wings in irritation.

"Come on, come on! we haven't had all day!" Chatot called.

"Let's go Silvin. You can tell me what's wrong later" Priscilla urged and we took off, following the guild.

"Ahem... attention please!" Chatot began "It appears everyone has arrived to our base safe and sound. We shall now proceed with the exploration of Fogbound Lake!"

Chatot turned to stare at the forest ahead "As you can see, we're in a densely forested area. Somewhere within this forest, Fogbound Lake is supposed concealed. But so far, that has been nothing but a rumor"

"Exploration teams of all stripes have mounted many a challenge, but so far the lake has eluded discovery" Chatot continued.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Corphish piped up and everyone turned to him "Hey, hey, so is it really there or what? This Fogbound Lake?"

"Silly Corphish. You'll wreck the dream if you say something like that" Sunflora chided cheerfully.

"Yeah! Don't spoil things now!" Loudred agreed.

"Hey, hey…" Corphish slumped in defeat.

"Um, may I?" Everyone turned their attention to Chimecho "While we were traveling, I heard about a certain legend"

"A legend you say?" Chatot said, intrigued.

"Yeah. A legend about Fogbound Lake" Chimecho continued "According to the legend, Fogbound Lake is home to a Pokemon named Uxie. The Pokemon is said to be exceedingly rare"

"Ah, that legend" Zelot cupped his hand under his chin "The one about how Uxie locks eyes others and wipes their memories clean"

"Oh shush, dear Zelot" Sara laughed "You'll frighten the children if you say that"

"Of course, it's only a legend" Zelot reminded all of us "That's not saying it's fact"

"Wipe their memories clean…?" I thought, then it all came down on me. If Uxie could lock eyes with someone and erase their memories, that meant I must of met Uxie as a human and had my memories wiped! But that didn't answer the question of who turned me into a Pokemon.

"But if the legend's true, it explains why Fogbound Lake has never been discovered yet" Chimecho said "Uxie would wipe their memories clean and thereby muzzle travelers from revealing the existence of the lake. That's how Uxie protects the lake"

"Golly, that's a pretty hair raising tale" Bidoof shivered "But does it still remain?"

"I've been told it does" Chimecho replied "So if said legend's true, we'll be walking forward just to come back empty handed"

"What will I DO if my memory gets wiped?" Loudred asked.

"I wouldn't worry too much about that" Sunflora replied "After all, you're so forgetful anyway, you make me go eek!"

"Wow. Low blow there Sunflora…" I commented. 

"Ahem" Chatot returned our attention to him "You should realize that places of this sort can be expected to have a folktale or legend attached to them. Our guild has overcome difficult challenges and obstacles when conducting successful explorations"

"Absolutely!" Sunflora piped up.

"That's how our guild has earned a reputation for being first class" Dugtrio agreed.

"Ha ha ha! Don't worry, everything will be alright!" Wigglytuff cheered "Let's believe in success for this adventure!"

Chatot assessed all of us "Let's move on with our plan. The Guildmaster and I will remain here to gather intelligence from our teams on the field. You are to go off teams to explore this forest. Be aware that this forest is enshrouded by deep fog. Once you enter, visibility will be severely reduced"

"We think that Fogbound Lake has defied discovery because of this fog" Chatot continued "Perhaps there is a way to lift this fog. Therefore, your search is twofold. Find Fogbound Lake and find a way to lift the fog. If you accomplish either task, returned to base to inform me and the Guildmaster. That is all"

"Alright everyone, let's give it our best, as always!" Chatot called.

"HOORAY!"

Croagunk, Sunflora, Bidoof, Corphish and Loudred all went ahead into the forest. Dugtrio and Diglett disappeared beneath the ground.

"Well then, we should go too. Chaw-ha-ha" Skuntank told his teammates and Team Skull left as well.

"We need to hurry too Silvin" Priscilla said "Come on, let's go!"

"I know this place" I thought to myself "According to the legend, the Pokemon Uxie can wipe the memories of others. My amnesia and the legend… are the two things really just a coincidence?"

"Maybe I came here before…" I thought "And met Uxie. He wiped my memories clean. Could that have happened?"

"Hey Silvin, Priscilla!" Zelot's voice broke me out of my thoughts. We turned and saw the Gallade and Mismagius coming towards us.

"Oh, Zelot and Sara!" Priscilla greeted "What can we do for you?"

"We just came to ask if you could join us in exploring the forest" Zelot said, rubbing the back of his head "Truth be told, both of us have terrible senses of direction. Having four of us will make us stronger too"

"You two seem really strong already though. Do you really need our help?" Priscilla asked.

"We're not invincible Priscilla. You could always get caught off guard" Zelot replied "That's why I ask you two to come with us. Not only can we keep you safe, you can keep us safe too"

"Please Priscilla and Silvin. It'll benefit all of us if you come" Sara pleaded.

"Alright, we'll come with you" I decided and Priscilla nodded "Come on. Let's get moving as fast as we could"

"Best idea I've heard all day" Zelot smiled "Come then. Fogbound Forest awaits!"

Our party:

\- Silvin, Riolu

Level 18

Moves: Force Palm, Quick Attack, Bite and Counter

IQ Level: **

\- Priscilla, Eevee

Level 17

Moves: Tackle, Quick Attack, Sand Attack and Helping Hand

IQ Level: **

\- Zelot, Gallade (Guest team member)

Level 24

Moves: Psycho Cut, Brick Break, Leaf Blade and Night Slash

IQ Level: ***

\- Sara, Mismagius (Guest team member)

Level 22

Moves: Shadow Ball, Psywave, Magical Leaf and Confuse Ray

IQ Level: ***


	10. Heart of Groudon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The guild's expedition is in full swing as everyone arrives in the Foggy Forest and begins exploring to find the elusive Fogbound Lake. Living up to it's name, Fogbound Lake has never been found, but Wigglytuff's Guild strives to be the first. However, one rumor of the area digs into Silvin's mind: a legendary being named Uxie erases the memories of all Pokemon who traverse the mysterious area. Could Uxie be responsible for the wiping of Silvin's human memories? To Silvin, this is more than just an expedition. It's his first step into grasping his forgotten past.

"Huh? What's this?" Priscilla noticed something shiny on the ground and picked it up. It looked to be a bright red crystal pyramid.

"Strange, the stone's kinda hot" Priscilla noted as she rubbed her paw around the mysterious object "It's like heat is coming off of it"

"Let's keep it and investigate it later" I suggested and Priscilla nodded, tucking the stone into her treasure bag. We came into a clearing with two pathways.

"Oh that's odd. There's two roads here" Sara said as she examined the two wooden signs leading into the woods "One said "Foggy Forest" and the other "Forest Path". Which way shall we go?"

"Foggy Forest obviously. Every other "path" we took lead us back to the beginning" Zelot replied, turning to the Foggy Forest path "Unless we want to miss out on the treasure, Foggy Forest is the right way to go"

"I agree completely Zelot. Let's move everyone!" Priscilla nodded and all four of us charged into the Foggy Forest. Foggy Forest was obviously shrouded in fog, making the enemy Pokemon hard to discern and attack. As expected of a forest-like area, the enemy Pokemon were mostly Grass type, ranging from Skiploom to Breloom. There was also a high amount of Normal type Pokemon here too, with Smergles, Hoothoots, Dunsparces and Stantlers. Luckily, Zelot was an expert at defeating Normal types.

"How long have you two been a team for?" Priscilla asked as we walked down a hallway in the dungeon "You two seem to work great together"

"Well, we've been together ever since we were children" Zelot answered as he slammed his fist into a Stantler with Brick Break, knocking it out "Me and Sara are childhood friends"

"Chatot said you two were a bounty hunter team" I continued as I Quick Attack'ed a Smergle "Does that mean you only take outlaw capture jobs?"

"It's a long story and I hope you don't mind us telling it while we're exploring" Zelot began "Me and Sara lived in a small village down south. A group of rogue Pokemon came to the village one day and attacked, killing my father and Sara's mother"

Zelot stopped to dodge a Pinsir's Horn Attack and retaliated with Psycho Cut, allowing Sara to finish Pinsir with Psywave.

"We were really torn up about it and wanted to take revenge ourselves, but a group of bounty hunters were passing by as the rogues attacked the village" Zelot continued "They defeated the bandits and turned them into the police. Since then, they were me and Sara's inspiration to become bounty hunters"

"So you can say we have a lot of experience fighting!" Sara laughed while summoning a torrent of leaves with Magical Leaf to pepper a duo of Stantler and Pachirisu "We haven't had a proper hunt for treasure in years!"

"This expedition is the first treasure hunt we had in awhile" Zelot added "I heard the guild has a reputation for bringing back large amounts of loot every time they head out on an expedition. I want to see that firsthand"

"There is so much thrill in finding treasure, you know" Sara continued "Whether it be a chest of gold, dazzling jewels or a rare item!"

Priscilla watched the two Pokemon in awe. No wonder they were such a synergistic team. Since they were together since childhood, Zelot and Sara can even finish each other's sentences.

"Have you two… ever considered starting a family?" Priscilla asked that without shame "You two seem to be made for each other"

"Ah ha, we're still thinking about it" Zelot took it easily and grinned "Despite what you may think, we're lifelong friends. Lovers, not yet"

"A life as an explorer or hunter is full of surprises" Sara said "You never know what will happen next and that's what makes it so fun!"

We continued onward in silence for the next few floors, usually trying to keep our guard up to avoid ambushes.

"The fog combined with the high treetops make it easy to get ambushed" Zelot warned "Be careful at all times"

"Got it" I nodded before noticing a sudden movement from a tree. I stopped walking and took a step back, before Sara shouted.

"Silvin! Get back!"

I immediately dashed backwards into Priscilla as a Breloom slammed its fist into the earth with Mach Punch. If Sara didn't cry out, I would of gotten my skull smashed. The Breloom dug it's fist out from the dirt, but not before I struck it hard in the face with Force Palm, sending it flying backwards. Sara rose above us and launched Shadow Ball at the enemy Pokemon, taking it down.

"Phew, that was close. REALLY close" I sighed as I regained my footing.

"Too close perhaps. Here, let me swap position with Priscilla, so I could cover you and Sara can cover Priscilla" Zelot suggested as we swapped position to protect each other. The strategy worked near the last floors, where Brelooms and Pinsirs were more plentiful. If I didn't have Zelot's protection, I would of been impaled and crushed at least four times. That wouldn't be good for our Reviver Seeds.

"Hey! I hear water back there!" Sara exclaimed.

"You can hear water?" I asked as I threw a Blast Seed at a Zigzagoon, blasting it backwards "Like a waterfall?"

"Yeah, I hear the rushing of water. We should be near the end of the dungeon!" Sara said cheerfully "Come on!"

We wrapped up our skirmishes and followed Sara to a staircase leading to the next floor. We arrived in a clearing, with torrents of water crashing down from the sky into large water-filled holes. The sound of this downpour was strangely soothing.

"Wow, the water's coming down all over the place!" Priscilla marveled, taking in the sight with amazement.

"The question is though, is this the deepest part of the forest?" Zelot asked, gazing at our surroundings "It doesn't seem like a mystery dungeon anymore but…"

"It's hard to tell" I squinted into the fog "The fog's so thick that I can't tell where we can go"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Suddenly we heard Corphish's voice up ahead.

"Oh hey, it's Corphish!" We walked up to meet with the crab Pokemon, who was looking around for clues.

"Hey, hey, did you guys find any clues?" Corphish asked "Like how to lift the fog or find Fogbound Lake?"

"No, nothing yet" Priscilla informed "What about you Corphish?"

"I've got nothing here either. Don't let it get you down" Corphish replied, snapping his claws "But… there's something interesting here you might want to look at"

Corphish led us towards a gray limestone statue half-buried in the ground.

"Whoa that's…" Priscilla was at a loss for words "That's one big statue. Is is depicting a Pokemon?"

"I have no idea. If it did, then it would be a very big Pokemon hey, hey…" Corphish replied absently.

"Do you know what this statue depicts?" I asked Zelot and Sara. The Gallade and Mismagius both shook their heads.

"In all my years of travel, I've never seen this kind of creature before" Zelot said, stroking his chin as he observed the statue "I could be an exceedingly rare Pokemon like Uxie"

"Hmm…" Priscilla inspected the statue, checking all visible area before her eyes went wide.

"Oh hey! There's something inscribed here" Priscilla stared at a stone plate indented into the side of the statue's base. It seems to be written in footprints.

"Footprint runes huh?" Zelot said as he stared at the inscription, trying to decipher it "That means…"

"... Rhis statue is very old" Sara finished "Footprint runes was the way of communicating before everyone started speaking English"

"My grandpa used to speak to me in footprint runes when he was still alive" Zelot reminisced "Never understood him"

"Well, lucky for all of us, I studied footprint runes before" Priscilla grinned before staring at the plate again, murmuring to herself.

"Let's see… "Reignite the life that burned within Groudon. Then the sky shall blaze with the sun's heat. The path to treasure shall be revealed"" Priscilla said before stepping back "Reignite the life that burned within Groudon…"

"So Groudon's the one depicted on this statue" I noted as I took in Groudon's shape "He looks to be one mighty big Pokemon"

"You're starting to speak like Bidoof" Priscilla joked before turning to inspect the front of the statue "It says that the "path to treasure shall be revealed" when we "reignite the life that burned within Groudon" and "blaze the sky with the sun's heat" What could that all mean?"

"Hm, it's a hard puzzle to solve, that's for sure" Zelot said.

"Hmm… Ah!" Priscilla turned to me "Silvin, put your hands on the statue. Maybe you can get a vision!"

"A vision? Silvin can do that?" Sara asked in surprise.

"Hey, hey, you never told us that!" Corphish exclaimed.

"Sorry, there was never a good time to" Priscilla said sheepishly "Silvin here has the power to see into the past or future by touching something related to it. Come on Silvin, touch the statue"

I did as Priscilla commanded and rested my two hands onto the statue's base. Not before long, the familiar nausea kicked in.

"Here we go…" I thought as my vision began to blur away. In the darkness, I only heard two voices.

"That's it!"

"It's here! It's here!"

Then my vision returned and the nausea faded.

"Huh? That was it?" I thought, but then the nausea returned "Ugh, again? So soon?"

"I see! Place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart" Said the voice I heard in the last vision "That lifts the fog! Very well done! Good job, partner!"

Then I returned to reality.

"Did you see anything Silvin?" Priscilla asked, breaking me out of my thoughts. I let go of the statue and explained what I heard. After my retelling, everyone stared at the statue, thinking.

"Place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart" Priscilla recited thoughtfully "Wait a second…"

"That stone you picked up at the start of the dungeon!" Zelot realized it too "I think that's the Drought Stone!"

"Exactly what you're thinking Zelot!" Priscilla pulled the warm red pyramid from her treasure bag and headed to the front of the statue "Place the Drought Stone in Groudon's heart. The heart must be near the chest…"

Priscilla inspected the front for a little before exclaiming "Ah ha! There's a small hole in Groudon's chest!"

"Does the stone fit into it?" Sara asked.

"Only one way to find out" Priscilla inserted the scarlet stone into the hole, then hopped away as the statue began shaking. It's empty gray eyes flashed red and the earth around us began shaking.

"Everyone get back!" Zelot shouted as the entire statue glowed white before emitting a brilliant flash. When the light faded, the fog around us was completely lifted.

"Hey, hey, the fog's gone!" Corphish exclaimed.

"The sky clear… and the sunlight harsh" Priscilla said "Blaze the sky with the sun's heat. That's what it meant!"

Sara looked into the sky "Hey, look at this everyone!"

All of us followed Sara's gaze and gasped.

"So this is what the fog was hiding…" Priscilla murmured "It's no wonder Fogbound Lake evaded discovery for all this time. We all thought the lake was on the ground, but it's actually high in the air!"

Right above us was a huge mass of land, with water falling down the edges like a waterfall. A smaller, taller island was in the center, clearly the root of all the water coming down here.

"So you're saying that Fogbound Lake is up there? Hey, hey?" Corphish asked, amazed.

"Yes, Fogbound Lake HAS to be up there" Priscilla assured "After all, this is what the fog covered the entire time!"

"I'll go tell the guild this!" Corphish nodded "You four go on ahead!"

"Alright, we'll see you soon Corphish!" I called as the crab Pokemon took off.

"Let's go everyone. To Fogbound Lake!" Priscilla cheered before a familiar voice stopped us.

"Hold it!"

"Oh no, not you three again…" I groaned as I turned around and found Skuntank, Koffing and Zubat all smirking at us.

"What are you brutes doing here?!" Priscilla demanded.

"Good job chaw-ha-ha!" Skuntank congratulated.

"Whoa-ho-ho! You solved the mystery, so you're no longer any use to us!" Koffing laughed.

"Heh-heh-heh we'll swipe the treasure, thanks to you!" Zubat cackled.

"You fiends! That's why you joined the expedition! You planned this all along!" Priscilla shouted, fuming.

"Whoa-ho-ho you expected anything less?" Koffing asked, his tone mocking.

"Chaw-ha-ha I'm sorry to say this but…" Skuntank bristled, ready to fight "We'll have to get rid of you right here!"

"We'll make you eat those words!" Priscilla countered "We'll stop you from getting to Fogbound Lake!"

"Chaw-ha-ha! You already forgotten our last showdown?" Skuntank laughed wildly "Let me remind you how you lost to Koffing and me… with another noxious gas combo!"

"I never trusted you three ever" Zelot's voice was as hard as steel "If this is your true intentions, then me and Sara will show no mercy in stopping you!"

"Oh ho, bring it on then. Bring it on" Skuntank dared "We'll stop you all the same!"

Skuntank and Koffing got in front of us while Zubat stayed back.

"Chaw-ha-ha You're destined to fail again!" Skuntank taunted "Enough talking! Take this!"

"Not so fast!" Zelot's arm glowed with pink psychic power as he was about to unleash Psycho Cut, but he and Skuntank were interrupted by the most unlikely person.

"Waah! Wait! Wait for me!" Wigglytuff suddenly came into the scene, chasing a Perfect Apple that was rolling across the ground.

"W-what?!" Zubat cried in alarm.

"Perfect Apple! Perfect Apple!" Wigglytuff came in between of us and grabbed his apple "I finally caught you! My Perfect Apple!"

"Guildmaster?! What are you doing here?" Sara asked, shocked.

"If my Perfect Apple went away, I would…" Wigglytuff continued as if he never heard Sara "I would… sniffle…"

Then Wigglytuff realized we were watching him in a mix of shock and awe.

"Oh? Oh-oh?" Wigglytuff turned to us "Oh, you four! And my friends as well! Everyone's together! Yay-yay!"

"G-Guildmaster, wh-what are you doing here?" Skuntank repeated Sara's question.

"Huh? What am I doing?" Wigglytuff turned to Skuntank "Well, I was taking a walk in the forest and my Perfect Apple rolled away. I ran and ran and ran and here I am!"

"Oh yes!" Wigglytuff turned to us "You four shouldn't be dawdling here, should you?"

"What?!"

"You have a job to do, right? To the explore the forest right? Go on then, off you go!" Wigglytuff said brightly.

"Guildmaster, we have to tell you that we found Fogbound Lake!" Zelot reminded Wigglytuff "We don't need to explore the forest anymore!"

"The mission was to explore the forest right? You should be doing that!" Wigglytuff ignored Zelot completely "Go on, listen to your Guildmaster"

"But we-"

"You're not going to listen? Booooo! Booo!"

"Ugh, this is absurd. Everyone, let's go" I noticed a small landslide happening in the midst of Wigglytuff's interruption and headed to the right with our team to investigate.

"Good luck!" Wigglytuff cheered behind me. He was totally fooled. We weren't exploring the forest. We were going to Fogbound Lake.

"Oh I hope we get some good news soon!" Wigglytuff said to himself after we left "La la la la!"

Wigglytuff continued singing until Skuntank began looking uncomfortable.

"Um, Guildmaster…" Skuntank interrupted Wigglytuff's daydreaming.

"Hm? What's the matter, friend?" Wigglytuff asked curiously.

"We were thinking that we should go explore as well" Skuntank suggested.

"Oh?!" Wigglytuff jumped in surprise, then shook his head "That's all right! I can't trouble my friends like that! We'll let those four do the exploring. Let's just wait for the report"

Wigglytuff returned to his skipping and singing, which left Skuntank fuming.

"This is really starting to get weird…" Zubat whispered to Skuntank.

"Team Skylar is going to get to the treasure first if we don't do something" Koffing murmured "What do we do?"

"We have no choice" Skuntank muttered "We have to take down Wigglytuff right now. Then we'll chase down Team Skylar"

"Do you really think that's right?" Zubat asked.

"Wigglytuff is like, really creepy. You don't know what he can do" Koffing continued.

"Don't worry about it. Wigglytuff is no big deal" Skuntank replied "Besides, rumor has it that Wigglytuff is holding an incredibly valuable treasure"

"Oh really? Treasure?" Zubat asked excitingly.

"That's right. I was planning on mugging him for it eventually, but now's a good opportunity" Skuntank said, then whispered to Koffing "Hey Koffing. Prepare the noxious gas combo"

"Hey Wigglytuff, want to see a magic trick?" Skuntank called and Wigglytuff turned, a silly grin on his face.

"Ooh, a magic trick?! Show me, show me!"

"No hard feelings" Skuntank said in a low voice with a dark smile "But the great, famous explorer Wigglytuff… dies now!"

Our party:

\- Silvin, Riolu

Level 20

Moves: Force Palm, Quick Attack, Bite and Counter

IQ Level: **

\- Priscilla, Eevee

Level 19

Moves: Tackle, Bite, Quick Attack and Sand Attack

IQ Level: **

\- Zelot, Gallade

Level 24

Moves: Psycho Cut, Brick Break, Night Slash and Leaf Blade

IQ Level: ***

\- Sara, Mismagius

Level 22

Moves: Shadow Ball, Magical Leaf, Psywave and Confuse Ray

IQ Level: ***


	11. Radiant Wings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Skylar solves the mystery behind the Foggy Forest and pushes onward into Steam Cave to reach Fogbound Lake. However, a ferocious new threat awaits them, one that Silvin and Priscilla will never be prepared for. Will the treasure of Fogbound Lake go unfounded in the face of this beast?

"Hey! What's up there?" I lead our group towards a large fissure in the base of a mountain. Steam rose out from holes on the hill's exterior.

"Do you think this appeared when we activated the Groudon statue?" Priscilla wondered aloud, surveying the cavern entrance "Look, another sign"

"It says "Steam Cave"" Zelot noted "Fitting, since there's all this steam coming off the mountain"

"Maybe it leads up to Fogbound Lake!" Sara said excitingly "Come on, let's go!"

"Give us some time to prepare!" Priscilla laughed before we went to the Kangaskhan Rock next to the cave entrance to organize our inventory. When we were done, we entered Steam Cave.

Meanwhile back at the statue…

Zubat came up to Skuntank, who was glaring at Wigglytuff intensely "Psst… Hey Chief! What's going on? Something wrong?"

"Chief… Hey Chief…" Koffing whispered "You've been staring him down for how long now…?"

"C'mon" Koffing urged "Let's you and I give him a double dose of the ol noxious gas…"

"Shh! Shut your yap!" Skuntank snapped.

"Dear friends! What's wrong?" Wigglytuff asked curiously "You're making such scary faces at me. I thought you were showing me a magic trick!"

"Bah, this guy's tough… really tough" Skuntank growled.

"I get it! You're trying to make me laugh with silly faces!" Wigglytuff grinned "I bet I can make you laugh too!"

Wigglytuff opened his mouth wide and pulled down on his eyes "Blabba! Blabba! Blapp! Blobba! Blobba! Blopp!"

"C'mon Chief…" Koffing gritted his teeth in unease "I can't take this anymore. This whole scene is freaking me out…"

"Okay then… this isn't working and we're out of options…" Skuntank steeled himself "Hey Wigglytuff!"

"Whatiswhatiswhatiswhat… what is it?" Wigglytuff let go of his eyes and closed his mouth.

"Hey, no hard feelings but…" Skuntank grinned darkly "You're going down! A double dose from me and Koffing… prepare to die!"

Koffing and Skuntank reared back, then unleashed a cloud of powerful purple gas right into Wigglytuff's face.

...

Steam Cave was, as the name implied, steamy. Which meant it was hot, humid and filled to the brim with Fire type Pokemon. Luckily, no one in our ground was weak to Fire types, which was good because we were running out of Reviver Seeds in both our bag and storage. We only had two left.

"Be careful of the Slugma here" Zelot cautioned "Their bodies are made of pure lava, so don't make contact with them"

"I can attack from a distance with Shadow Ball, Psywave or Magical Leaf, so leave them to me!" Sara smiled.

In addition to the Fire types in Steam Cave like Slugma, Magby and Numel, there was also a number of Bug and Normal types strangely. Snubbull, Farfetch'd, Yanma and Kricketune were all plentiful here. I dodged a Farfetch'd's Leaf Blade and struck back with Force Palm, sending the Pokemon backwards. I finished it off with a Quick Attack and saw something sparkling on the ground. I picked it up and found that it was a disc case with a orange disc inside. The words "Focus Punch" were written on the top.

"Huh? What's this?" I showed the case to Zelot, who just finished a skirmish with two Magby.

"Oh, looks like you found a TM Silvin" Zelot said as he took the disc case to investigate "Apparently, you can use the discs inside TMs to learn new moves. How it works, I have no idea"

"Maybe I can try it out now" I opened the case and took the Focus Punch TM out. I stared at the disc, looking at my reflection before the disc began to heat up suddenly.

"Yow! What the-" I dropped the disc in surprise, but it disappeared once it hit the floor. All of a sudden, I knew the secrets of Focus Punch. It's like they were magically implanted inside my brain.

"Best to just not question it. There are stranger things in this world" Zelot smiled "But nevertheless, it seems like you Focus Punch. Want to give it a try?"

"Let's see what it can do" I spotted a Snubbull around the corner and ran towards it, orange light surrounding my fist. The Snubbull noticed and lunged at me with Headbutt, but I ignored the pain and focused as my fist began to feel hot with energy, as if someone was pressing hot iron against my skin. I couldn't take it anymore and unleashed the attack at Snubbull. My fist collided with the Pokemon's face and sent it flying straight towards a wall, burying the poor Snubbull into the earth. After the adrenaline worn off, I looked at my hand in shock. Smoke curled off the edges of my wrist, but nothing seemed broken. I unleashed an attack capable of shattering boulders and my hand was nothing more than smoking.

"Nicely done Silvin" Zelot stared at the hole I made where Snubbull was buried in "Focus Punch can really help in the future if it carries THIS much power"

"Urk, don't expect me to do it all the time" I clutched my hand in pain "Even though I felt no recoil from the attack, I feel… so tired now…"

"That's the cost for such powerful moves" Zelot helped me to not stumbled and eventually just carried me back to Priscilla and Sara, who went ahead to find the stairs "The PP limit of moves like this is usually five"

I sighed "I think I can only manage two per day"

"You need to learn and master a move before it comes natural to you" Zelot replied "You may be only able to unleash two Focus Punchs in a day, but in time, you can do more. At least as much as the PP allows you to"

"Just have to keep… practicing" I yawned "With great power, comes great need to take a nap"

Zelot laughed "You'll get your time for a nap after this adventure. Pray tell though, where did you get that quote from?"

"You knew it was a quote?" I smiled contentedly in Zelot's arms "It was from a book I read once"

"Really now? What book was it?" the Gallade asked as he Night Slash'ed a Farfetch'd with his free arm.

"I don't remember what it was… give me a moment…?"

"You can think about it when we rest" Zelot promised "There's the stairs"

"Phew, looks like we made it pretty high up" Priscilla said when she noticed me and Zelot coming up the stairs to the rest point "Hey Zelot! Is Silvin okay?"

"He's fine. Just tired from using his first Focus Punch" The Gallade let me down and I wobbled, trying to regain my footing. Priscilla laughed and helped me sit down in front of the Kangaskhan Rock. The ground beneath us was hot, like sitting on top of a frying pan.

"We must be getting close to the top" Priscilla dug out an apple and gave it to me to eat "We should get going soon so we can get the treasure!"

"GRRROOOOO…!"

The sudden roar shook the cavern and made me drop my apple in surprise.

"Huh? What was that?!" Priscilla looked ahead, but nothing that pointed the source of the roar.

"GRRROOOOO…!"

"Hmm… something must be ahead" Sara thought aloud "But are we going to let that stop us now?"

"No. We came this far to get the treasure and nothing's going to stop us!" Priscilla said, determined "Is everyone ready to move?"

"You sure are enthusiastic today…" I finished my apple and managed to stand "I think I'll recover before we reach the end. I'm ready to go"

"No more Focus Punchs" Zelot laughed "One more and you're liable to collapse"

"Don't worry, I don't think I can muster the energy to" I replied, albeit a bit woozy "I'm fine everyone. Let's go"

Upper Steam Cave as it was called had more powerful Pokemon than Steam Cave. Granbull, the evolved form of Snubbull were commonplace here. Illumise and Volbeat were here too and they are annoying because they constantly flew away and used Moonlight whenever they were wounded, healing them. I had to use a combo of Bite and Quick Attack to take them down. The real fear of Upper Steam Cave were the Magmar, who unleashed devastating Flamethrowers at anyone who stood in their way. Even Zelot, a veteran fighter, winced at the sight of a Magmar. We decided to avoid them altogether, although we were still wary of them since Magmar can fire Flamethrowers from across the room like snipers.

"Ugh, I can understand why more powerful Pokemon hang out here" Sara stiffened "It's more hot and humid here than back down in Steam Cave. You need to be very strong to survive in conditions like this"

"If this place is so warm, then why do Bug Pokemon hang out here?" I asked as I did my Bite Quick Attack combo on a fleeing Volbeat "This seems like the place they would go if they want to be roasted by a Magmar"

"Who knows? Perhaps they have gotten used to the conditions" Zelot suggested "Even if this place is a bane to Bug Pokemon themselves, I don't see any discomfort in the Illumise or Volbeat"

"It's certainly strange" Priscilla said while flinging a Geo Pebble to knock a Magmar out "They could be something atop this mountain that attract these two"

"Guess we'll never know" I shrugged.

We advanced up the floors of Upper Steam Cave and eventually reached the seventh floor.

"GROOOOOOO!"

"The roaring is getting louder" Priscilla noted as she paced the ground "That must be we're at the summit"

We walked into the room containing the stairs when suddenly, a whole legion of Magmar, Slugma and Granbull fell from the ceiling.

"What in the-" Priscilla couldn't finish her sentence as the enemy Pokemon began to attack.

"Monster House!" Zelot cried, pulling us back "Fall back and take them on one at a time!"

And so we did, dealing with each Magmar individually. We swapped positions whenever one of us got too injured to continue. We worn down the crowd of enemy Pokemon, but more took their place.

"Make a break through them!" Zelot commanded "Head for the stairs! We'll stay back!"

"No! You're coming with us!" Priscilla protested.

"Don't worry about us! We'll be fine!" Sara assured as she Shadow Ball'ed another line of Pokemon "Go! We'll be back for you!"

"Come on Priscilla! We don't have another chance!" I grabbed Priscilla by leg and ran towards the staircase leading up to the summit.

"Zelot and Sara can take care of themselves" I comforted as Priscilla continued glancing back, probably wondering if she should stay or continue going "They are strong Pokemon, stronger than us. They can handle themselves"

"Right… Yes you're right" Priscilla closed her eyes and took a deep breath "They're holding off the enemy for us. Now it's our job to get the treasure"

On the summit, we found ourselves in an empty mountain field, with tall rocks shaped like spears nearby.

"This place… it feels… it feels strange somehow…" Priscilla said to herself as she surveyed our surroundings "The very air feels fraught with tension"

"It's making my skin crawl" I agreed "It's like I'm being… crushed by an overwhelming sense of danger…"

"Something has to be coming. It's no coincidence that both of us are feeling it"

Suddenly we heard a loud roar.

"GRRROOOOH… GRRROOOOHHH!"

"Ah-aahhhhhhh!" Priscilla clamped over her mouth to silence her scream "It's the same roar we heard Silvin!"

"GRROOOOHH!"

Then we heard footsteps, footsteps strong enough to shake the ground beneath us.

"It's… it's…" Priscilla shook with fear "It's here…!"

Meanwhile, Corphish led the rest of the guild back to the Groudon statue.

"Hey, hey, check this out everyone!" Corphish called as the rest of the guild followed suit.

"This is it? The Groudon statue?" Chatot asked.

"Oh! But there's no one else here!" Sunflora pointed out.

"Are you really sure you saw the Guildmaster, Corphish?" Chatot asked skeptically.

"Sure, I'm sure!" Corphish assured "I saw him when I was scuttling back to base camp. The Guildmaster dashed past, all willy-nilly, in hot pursuit of a Perfect Apple"

"I gave him a shout and wave, but he seemed too occupied to holler back" Corphish continued, then looked around "But I guess Silvin's team went ahead, so I'd bet that the Guildmaster went up after them, don't you think?"

Suddenly, the ground shook twice, as if massive footsteps were being taken.

"Hmm? The ground…" Diglett narrowed his eyes.

"Uh-what? It's shaking!" Bidoof cried in alarm.

"GRROOOOOOH…!"

"What… whatever could that be?" Chimecho asked in a low voice.

"What an uproar! Is it maybe…?" Loudred was staring at the Groudon statue, almost coming to a conclusion. Corphish hopped on the spot.

"Whatever it is, it came up there! Silvin and his team are in danger!" Corphish cried "Come on! We have to go!"

Everyone rushed over to the right, but Diglett knew he felt something.

"Hey, Dad!" Diglett called and Dugtrio stopped "Did you hear something right over there? Like moaning and groaning?"

"Oh, you just imagined it!" Dugtrio scoffed "Now let's hurry!"

"Yep!"

As the two left, Zubat, Koffing and Skuntank all laid in a heap next to a water puddle.

"Ouchee-wow-wow!" Zubat moaned.

"I'm d-d-deflated! I can't move!" Koffing cried in distress.

"Hork-ork-how did that happen…?" Skuntank asked "How did Wigglytuff shrug off our noxious gas combo like it was nothing?"

"And h-h-how did Wigglytuff strike back at us…" Zubat groaned "It's u-unbelievable. Wigglytuff is unbelievable…"

"What did I tell you Chief? You don't know what Wigglytuff's capable of" Koffing said.

"S-shut up you…"

Back on Steam Cave's summit, the footsteps grew louder and shook the ground beneath us even more.

"S-Silvin… if we don't make it out alive… escape and tell the others…" Priscilla stuttered fearfully.

"No way, I'm not leaving you behind" I reassured, placing my hand on her shoulder "Either we win together or we die together. We're not leaving each other behind"

"Stubborn aren't you?" Priscilla managed a smile "One way that will come back to bite at you. But for now… I'm glad for the support"

"GROOOOOOH…. GRROOOOOOH!"

And the beast appeared, a gigantic red Pokemon with black marking all over it's body. It's arms were rippled with muscles and his claws were as sharp as blades. It was the Pokemon depicted on the statue. Groudon.

"GRRROOOOH!" Groudon roared "YOU! HAVE YOU COME TO DESECRATE THIS PLACE?! DEPART NOW!"

"B-but all we want is to go to Fogbound Lake!" Priscilla said in her strongest voice.

"WHAT?! FOGBOUND LAKE?!" Groudon smashed the ground with one of his fists "I AM THE GUARDIAN OF FOGBOUND LAKE! I AM GROUDON! YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE HERE ALIVE, INTRUDERS!"

"Aaahhhhh! Here he comes!" Priscilla screamed.

Meanwhile, Chatot led the guild to the entrance of Steam Cave.

"Hey, hey! there's a way in!" Corphish said.

"We can go up through here!" Sunflora continued.

"Let's HURRY!" Loudred shouted and the guild charged into Steam Cave. While they were exploring the dungeon, Corphish went over to Chatot.

"H...h...hey… hey Chatot!" Corphish panted "Can I ask you something while we're running?"

"What is it?" Chatot snapped.

"Do you know of a Pokemon named Groudon?" Corphish asked.

"Well, of course. Just what do you take me for? I'm only the head of intelligence for our guild!" Chatot replied, irritated "Groudon is a legendary Pokemon spoken of in myths passed down through generations"

"A legendary Pokemon?" Corphish wondered aloud.

"Correct" Chatot replied "The myths say Groudon raised the land from the sea and created continents!"

"Hoo-boy that sounds like a colossal Pokemon!" Corphish exclaimed "But what if you were to face Groudon in battle?"

Groudon walked a few steps in front of us, shaking the ground even more.

"What would happen?"

"Battle?! Out of the question!" Chatot flapped "If anyone were foolish enough to face Groudon in a battle… Well it would be like throwing your life away! He's that strong! Like all legendary Pokemon!"

"GRROOOOOH!" Groudon roared in front of us.

"T-this is scary…" Priscilla said in a low voice "But I need to be brave. We can do this! Silvin, if we die..."

"Don't think about us dying. We will win this"

"PREPARE FOR MY WRATH! GRROOOOH!" Groudon roared and raised his hand to the sky. The clouds above us split instantly and bright sunshine came down on us, covering the field.

"Harsh sunlight… watch out Silvin!" Priscilla called "If he uses any Fire type move, it'll be powered up!"

"AND UNLUCKY FOR YOU, FIRE IS ONE OF MY SPECIALTIES" Groudon's fist lit on fire with Fire Punch and he smashed the ground near me, expelling a huge inferno of fire. I leaped away just in time and countered with Quick Attack, but I dealt no damage to the behemoth. Next to me, Priscilla was throwing sand into Groudon's eyes with Sand Attack to lower his accuracy. I realized that if she didn't do that, Groudon would of already killed me with Fire Punch.

"Take this!" I dashed towards his leg and smashed my palm into it with Force Palm, making Groudon stumble slightly.

"GRRROOOH, A FEEBLE ATTEMPT" Groudon's hand came down and cut my chest open with Slash, leaving three giant, bloody claw marks.

"Silvin!" Priscilla screamed then ran over to me. Groudon attempted to stop her with Slash, but Sand Attack messed up his accuracy. Priscilla reached me and force fed me an Oran Berry, healing the injuries on my chest.

"We can't beat him with brute force alone" Priscilla said as she helped me dodge a Fire Punch from Groudon "We have to use strategy"

"Strategy like?"

"Seeds"

Priscilla dug a Sleep Seed from her treasure bag and threw it at Groudon, who caught it effortlessly and flung it back at us. We just barely escaped the cloud of sleep that expelled from the broken seed.

"I need you to distract Groudon so I can land the Sleep Seed" Priscilla said and I nodded, charging towards the giant behemoth.

"GA HA HA! COME TO CHALLENGE ME AGAIN, LITTLE RIOLU?!" Groudon's face morphed into one of pure terror, freezing me in my tracks.

"No! I won't let you!" Adrenaline broke my fear and I charged, smashing Groudon's leg with Force Palm.

"YOU KNOW THAT CAN'T DEFEAT ME SO WHY DO YOU TRY?!" Groudon made an attempt to grab me, but a Sleep Seed flew straight into his eyes and Groudon instantly fell asleep, allowing me to get away.

"Silvin, take this" Priscilla tossed me a Violent Seed "You know what to do"

"Focus Punch"

"Focus Punch"

I ate the Violent Seed and my mind focused to absolute clarity. My arms felt like they could tear apart mountains. I marched up to the sleeping Groudon and focused, allowing my fist to heat up like before. Orange light gathered on my fist as it began to overheat. I yelled as I threw my fist of pure energy into Groudon's leg. The force was enough to shatter an Aggron. Groudon woke up and toppled, his left leg broken.

"GRRROOHHH! YOU LITTLE PUNY RIOLU!" Groudon roared "THAT'S IT! DIE!"

Groudon viciously grabbed me and began to squeeze the life out of me. I tried to resist, but Groudon's strength was still eons better than mine. I began seeing spots as Groudon nearly crushed my ribs, but an X-Eye seed flew into Groudon's eyes, blinding him.

"GAH!" Groudon dropped me and stumbled around, wiping his eyes "I'M BLIND!"

"Now Silvin!" Priscilla yelled.

I focused another Focus Punch and lunged as I did it, slamming my fist into Groudon's right leg, shattering every bone in it. Groudon fell to his knees, roaring.

"NO! YOU CAN'T!"

"THIS IS OVER!" I leaped as high as I could and delivered a boulder-shattering Force Palm, spiking a spear of energy through Groudon's chest. The behemoth of a Pokemon finally fell, cracking the ground as he collapsed. I landed on the ground just as the Violent Seed faded away. My arms felt weak and my legs weaker.

"I knew I could only manage two Focus Punchs in a day…" I mumbled before collapsing to the ground. Priscilla caught me, smiling.

"You did it Silvin. By the gods, you did it" Priscilla nuzzled her face into my head "I'm so proud…"

"I couldn't have done it without you Priscilla" I said weakly "Come on… the treasure… Fogbound Lake… awaits…"

"Stay with me Silvin" Priscilla fed me an Oran Berry "I want you to see the fruit of your hard work"

"Don't worry… I'll sleep when this is… over…" I ate and Oran Berry and got to my feet, although I doubt I could fight for the rest of the day.

"Now then, let's go" Priscilla said "Finally, we can see Fogbound Lake"

Before we could go however, Groudon's body glowed with a bright white light.

"What?! What's happening to Groudon?" Priscilla cried in alarm. The light around Groudon grew stronger until the beast dissolved into particles of light, scattering into the sky. 

"Huh? Groudon… disappeared?" Priscilla said, confused.

"That was…" a new voice appeared "That was not Groudon. That Groudon was nothing more than an illusion I created"

"W-who said that?" Priscilla asked.

"Like I said earlier, I am the guardian here" The voice continued "And I cannot allow you to pass"

"Wait please!" Priscilla was practically praying that Groudon wouldn't reappear "We're not here to cause trouble!"

"We're only here for information!" I called.

"Huh? What do we need to know?" Priscilla asked curiously.

I quickly explained how I thought I knew this place and my theory that Uxie wiped my memories when I was human.

"Information, you say?" The voice said.

"Yes, that's the honest truth!" Priscilla cried "Well, we'll admit that we're an exploration team and we'd like to leave with treasure after all our effort"

"But we'll leave without any if you have a problem with it" Priscilla promised "So please, allow us through and at least answer some questions!"

"Hmm… well…" The voice pondered "Okay, I believe you"

Light gathered in front of us and a form took shape, a blue twin-tailed Pokemon with a head of yellow. Its eyes were closed and a red gem was on it's forehead.

"Let me welcome you then" The Pokemon said. Its voice was monotone, but strangely welcoming "I am Uxie, the guardian of Fogbound Lake"

"What?! Did you say Uxie?" Priscilla cried in alarm.

"Yes truly" Uxie nodded "I stand guard over something special… that resides in Fogbound Lake. Now let me escort you to Fogbound Lake. Please, come this way"

Uxie led us to a rocky platform that overlooked a lake of great proportions. The harsh sunlight faded after we defeated Groudon, so in reality, the sun was already down.

"Wow, it's gotten dark already" Priscilla noted as she took a look around the area "What a beautiful lake"

"It may be a little difficult to see at night, but…" Uxie turned to the lake "Behold! Fogbound Lake!"

"Whoa…" Me and Priscilla said in unison. Even shrouded in darkness, Fogbound Lake was spectacular. Many pink and green lights were flying in the darkness, like fireflies.

"What are those?" Priscilla asked in amazement.

"The Volbeat and Illumise. They are attracted to the only light source in the night here" Uxie replied.

"What light source?"

"Look ahead"

In the center of the lake was a bright green light, shining in the darkness of the lake. We stepped a little closer to see and saw some sort of green gear shimmering in the water. The hole in the center was hexagon-shaped and six arrows protruded from the points of the hexagon. Whatever it was, it made my heart race for some reason.

"It's amazing…" Priscilla said "But what is it?"

"That is… a Time Gear" Uxie said.

"That's a Time Gear?!" Priscilla yelped in shock.

"Yes, it's what I protect" Uxie replied "It's the sole reason I'm here"

Uxie turned back to face us "Others before you have tried to trespass this area, but I used my Groudon illusion to scare most of them off"

"I'm guessing illusions is one of your psychic abilities?" Priscilla guessed.

"Yes. Like so" Uxie raised one of it's tails and Groudon reappeared back to us, albeit shimmering like it was made of mist.

"Ah!" Priscilla backed away in fear.

"No need to be alarmed" Uxie held a small smirk on its face "Like I said, it's only an illusion. I control what it can do"

"Thank goodness. I don't think I ever want to fight something like that again" I breathed a sigh of relief.

"There have been others who defeated my Groudon illusion and managed to make their way to this spot" Uxie continued "But they were trespassers! So I took away their memories… by opening my eyes"

"Took away their memories… by opening your eyes…" Priscilla said thoughtfully, then snapped "Oh right, we have to ask you something Uxie!"

"Ask me anything" Uxie said politely.

"This is my partner, Silvin" Priscilla began "At present, a Pokemon. Before, a human!"

"Ah, a human you say… interesting" Uxie used on of its tails to stroke its chin.

"Yes, but Silvin has lost all memories as a human" Priscilla continued "So I just want to ask: did a human ever "trespass" Fogbound Lake?"

"The answer is… no" Uxie replied flatly "No human has ever come here"

"Oh… that's a shame" Priscilla slumped in defeat.

"I should explain further" Uxie said "I only erase memories of Fogbound Lake. I cannot fully erase the memories of living beings"

Uxie turned to me "I have nothing to do with your memory loss, nor do I have anything to do with your transformation into a Pokemon. I'm sorry"

"That's alright" Priscilla said, then turned to me "So it seems like you've never been here after all Silvin"

"Yeah maybe so, but I can't shake the feeling that it looks familiar" I said "Maybe it's just my-"

"A Time Gear! A Time Gear! Well, too bad!"

Wigglytuff waddled onto the scene, followed by wounded, but still standing Zelot and Sara.

"Priscilla, Silvin! You're alright!" Zelot called, relieved.

"Oh thank the gods you two weren't hurt" Sara smiled "We were worried about you being alone here!"

"We can't take a Time Gear" Wigglytuff said.

"Wigglytuff?! What are you doing here?!" Priscilla asked, flabbergasted.

Wigglytuff ignored Priscilla and walked up to the lake "Wow! Fantastic!"

"And who might this be?" Uxie asked, a little taken aback.

"Sorry. This is Wigglytuff, the guildmaster of Wigglytuff's Guild" Priscilla explained.

"Glad to meet you, friend! Friend! Friend! Friend!" Wigglytuff greeted, as innocent and cheerful as ever. Then he waddled over to the flickering Groudon illusion.

"Glad to greet you, friend! Friend! Amazing! Friend!" Wigglytuff exclaimed, then came back to gaze at the lake "Gaze upon this amazing view! I'm delighted we came! La-dee la! Dee-la-dee!"

We had another look at the lake before the rest of the guild climbed the plateau.

"Phew, we finally made it!" Sunflora said in relief.

"No time to catch out breath. We have to hurry!" Dugtrio urged.

"Hey, hey! Someone's over there!" Corphish piped up.

"Let's go!" Chatot called and the guild Pokemon ran forward, only to be stopped in fear by the Groudon illusion.

"Squ-squ-squawk?!" Chatot fluttered in alarm.

"Gr-Gr-Gr…" Loudred couldn't even finish his sentence.

"It's Groudon! Spit it out!" Sunflora cried.

"D-d-d-ding!" Chimecho fluttered uneasily, ringing her bell in the process.

"Don't eat me! I'm not tasty!" Corphish begged.

"Hello to one and all! So what's wrong?" Wigglytuff asked, completely unfazed by the Groudon illusion.

"G-G-Guildmaster!" Chatot stuttered in shock.

"Oh nevermind that! Come and look at the view everybody!" Wigglytuff urged "It's spouting! Pretty, pretty!"

"HUH?!"

But it was just as Wigglytuff said. In the center of the lake, where the Time Gear was, a geyser erupted from the bottom. The blue-green hue of the Time Geat mixed with the Volbeat and Illumise lights made the water spout look absolutely divine.

"Oh my! So shimmering!" Chimecho exclaimed.

"Yup, yup! That's some kind of pretty!" Bidoof said, his eyes watering.

"Bidoof, are you crying?!"

"No, no! I'm not!"

"The lake geyser erupts every now and then" Uxie said, drawing attention away from Bidoof "It sends up water, just like a fountain and the Time Geat below sends up illumination. The Volbeat and Illumise glow with the fountain of water and in harmony, they are the very vision of beauty!"

"The treasure!" Wigglytuff exclaimed "The treasure… must be the view of Fogbound Lake!"

Me and Priscilla stared at the geyser, away from the others so we can be with each other.

"Are you taking in the view Silvin? It looks so magical!" Priscilla said.

"Divine. Like a god's gift for the eyes" I agreed "Although…"

"We didn't learn anything about your past, I know" Priscilla fidgeted "But I'm glad we came. I'm happy we got to see such a beautiful scene with everyone!"

"Poor Henry though" I smiled and Priscilla laughed.

"Poor Henry indeed. He's going to be on our heels for what happened here" Priscilla smiled contently "But… we'll tell him every detail"

"Yes… the view is too good to forget"

Me and Priscilla continued to watch the geyser in silence. While we were watching however, something prodded me from the back of my mind.

"If Uxie said he never met before…" I thought "Then how do I know this place?"

I took a closer look at the Time Gear "And when I look at the Time Gear, why does it make my pulse race and make me so uneasy?"

We continued watching for a few minutes until Wigglytuff decided it was time to go.

"So sorry! For disturbing you!" Wigglytuff apologized to Uxie "Had a fantastic time! Friend! Friend! Friend!"

"I shall not take away your memories of this place" Uxie said "You have earned my trust. But I trust that you can keep this place a secret"

"Surely! Thank you! We all know what we need to do!" Wigglytuff replied cheerfully "You know, another Time Gear has been stolen. This one must stay safe!"

"Wait… WHAT?!"

"Hush! Quiet down everyone!" Chatot called "Wigglytuff and I didn't tell you this so we wouldn't cause mass panic. I promise to explain once we get back"

That calmed down the guild and allowed Wigglytuff to continue.

"We won't ever say a word about this place! I swear in the name of Wigglytuff's Guild!" Wigglytuff said.

"Please hold true to that promise" Uxie pleaded.

"Okay! Let's be on our way!" Wigglytuff turned to Chatot "Chatot, if you will!"

"I'll hop to it, Guildmaster!" Chatot nodded, then turned to us "Everyone, we're returning to the guild!"

"HOORAY!"

And so, the guild's long and challenging expedition has come to an end. Everyone has returned safely to the guild except for Team Skull. God knows where they are now. But nobody gave a damn about them. Coming back to the guild meant we had to take up our regular training schedules again. Life was back to usual in the guild!

"Huh, Chatot wasn't kidding about the "imbued with magic" part" Priscilla said as the clouds covering Fogbound Lake magically moved off her Wonder Map "Now we can see Fogbound Lake and the surrounding area from the map"

When we returned to Treasure Town, Henry greeted us with a flying hug and told us that a Pelipper delivered two larger Treasure Bags while we were gone. We sold one of our old ones to Kecleon's Shop and I gave my old one to Henry, who sold his older one in turn. When we arrived in our room, I collapsed in bed, falling asleep instantly.

"Life is back to usual Silvin" Priscilla whispered "Sweet dreams. Don't oversleep"

Life was NOT going as usual in other places though.

"There it is! Another Time Gear!" A Pokemon shrouded in darkness hopped up to a Time Gear that was resting in a stone monument in a watery cave "This is the second one!"

The Pokemon reached for the gear with his hand "Three more Time Gears remain. I must have them…"

The Pokemon took the Time Gear off it's monument and dashed away as the world behind him turned gray, time freezing in place.

"Brand me a criminal all you want, world" The Pokemon mumbled to himself as he tucked the Time Gear in his treasure bag "But this is to save you"

Our team:

\- Silvin, Riolu

Level 23

Moves: Force Palm, Quick Attack, Bite and Focus Punch

IQ Level: **

\- Priscilla, Eevee

Level 21

Moves: Quick Attack, Tackle, Bite and Sand Attack

IQ Level: **

\- Henry, Starly

Level 18

Moves: Wing Attack, Quick Attack, Tackle and Growl

IQ Level: *

\- Zelot, Gallade

Level 25

Moves: Psycho Cut, Night Slash, Brick Break and Leaf Blade

IQ Level: ***

\- Sara, Mismagius

Level 24

Moves: Shadow Ball, Psywave, Magical Leaf and Confuse Ray

IQ Level: ***


End file.
